The most advanced cars today can already spot trouble ahead MD801. They use sensors to detect cars or fixed objects ahead, and alert drivers or, in some cases, even slam on the brakes.

The radio system aims to push that concept much further, enabling vehicles to engage in two-way conversations. A stopped car, for instance, could theoretically send a signal to warn another car (and driver) that's speeding in its direction. Cars could also engage in something like group discussions, exchanging facts about speed, direction and traffic conditions as fast as 10 times a second.

"This is just the beginning of a revolution in roadway safety," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Monday.

Foxx characterized the decision as a watershed event that could prevent as much as 80% of the more than 30,000 traffic fatalities that occur each year in the U.S.

Making such systems a reality could take many years. The agency's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will issue the standards and rules for installing such systems before the end of the Obama administration Autel Maxidiag MD802. But it will be up to automakers to build the communications systems, GPS sensors and software into vehicles.

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems would give cars the ability to warn drivers of dangers as far as 300 yards away. The technology could be linked to safety systems that automatically trigger brakes or make steering adjustments Launch IV Scanner.

The technology would provide a 360-degree view of what's happening around the vehicle. It could, for instance, sense what's happening beyond an obstacle, such as a large truck, while at the same time monitoring cross-traffic at the next intersection.

NHTSA's plan is based on research from an experiment with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute using about 3,000 vehicles already sharing information about their speed and location in Ann Arbor, Mich.

"The chief advantage is that this technology always pays attention, unlike drivers," said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Where federal regulation previously has focused on strengthening the structure of vehicles to protect occupants, this represents a shift toward technology to avoid crashes, Foxx said.

The Transportation Department did not provide any cost estimates.

"The safety benefits here will clearly outweigh any concerns about cost," Foxx said.

The agency is signaling its intentions now because it wants car companies to plan their research around common standards, Lund said. Moreover, it wants the Federal Communications Commission to reserve radio bandwidth for automotive use, and to understand any safety implications of allowing others to use portions of the same radio spectrum, he said.