CIECA recently hosted a webinar, “Why the Collision Industry Should Be Interested in V2X,” to dip into the emerging world of Vehicle to Everything (V2X) technology and how it could affect road safety, traffic management and even collision repair.
The presentation was led by Arif Rafiq, a transportation industry expert who advises governments on systems developed to manage roads, highways and public transportation infrastructure.
Rafiq spoke about why V2X technology will be critical to the future of mobility, including how it could be applied to collision repair.
Rafiq said V2X is communication between a vehicle -- which could be a car, truck or even a burrito delivery robot -- and everything around it -- other vehicles and the local transportation infrastructure. C-V2X is when the vehicle receives and sends data through the cellular network.
He opened with an imagined scenario: two autonomous cars driving side by side on a road, approaching an intersection.
Currently, if those cars are built by different manufacturers, “they may have different perspectives on what actually is at that intersection” based on data collected by other cars made by their respective manufacturers. One might think it’s a regular intersection, but the other could be more up-to-date and know it’s now a roundabout with an active work zone.
“Now these two vehicles have different perspectives of that same intersection,” Rafiq said. “What’s going to happen when they both reach that intersection? That depends on the intelligence built into the cars. The risk to the occupants has now gone up.”
Rafiq said that scenario is one he is working to avoid in the future, as autonomous vehicles become more common.
He shared a screenshot of what an autonomous car “sees” for data collection, not navigation, which it sends “home” to be used to build an HD map that all the same manufacturers’ cars then use for navigation.
“A tremendous amount of data needs to be stored to track every road and intersection in the world,” Rafiq said.
There are three options.
First, all of that data could be stored directly in the vehicle, but it quickly becomes outdated.
Second, the car can sense and interpret all data in real time, similar to an image Rafiq shared from a traffic camera identifying cars, large trucks and people in different colored boxes. But that technology is not perfect and doesn’t always recognize everything correctly.
Third, the data could be delivered to the vehicle as needed.
Rafiq said he thinks the third option “has a lot of merit.” He referred to the earlier example of the two autonomous cars approaching an intersection that recently became a roundabout.
If the local government supplied that information on a platform open to the public, it could theoretically be accessible to connected vehicles as well.
“If [vehicles] are able to read a precise and up-to-date ‘digital twin’ of the transportation infrastructure, then that puts all of us in a better state,” Rafiq said. “No matter which manufacturer is reading this data, it’s authoritative, reliable and up to date.”
Rafiq said he started helping governments in Southeast Asia and later Canada create these “digital twins” for road safety and public transportation management and planning purposes.
A webinar viewer asked if Rafiq has confidence governments would provide that information in a timely manner.
“No, I do not,” Rafiq said. “The technology to do it is there, but we have to take advantage of it. Some do, but not all.”
In late 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced $40 million in grants available for connected vehicle technology with the long-term goal of a nationwide interoperable V2X deployed and working by 2034.
Many vehicles newer than 10 years old already have some V2X capability, and the infrastructure is being developed around the U.S. -- by 2034, it is estimated it will be present in 100% of highways and 75% of intersections.
In the U.S., the number of roadway deaths has fallen from a peak of 44,000 in 1975 to 38,000 in 2020.
A better indication in the reduction of roadway deaths is the number of fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, which fell from 3.35 in 1975 to 1.34 in 2020.
“We’re getting better, but we’ve got lots of work to do,” Rafiq said.
How V2X Could Affect Collision Repair
One viewer asked if V2X could be used to validate ADAS calibrations are done correctly.
Rafiq said he thinks it could get there, but right now there is not a place for that kind of data in the current message subset within V2X data, which include those related to basic safety, local geography, signal phase and timing, road safety, emergency vehicle alerts and more.
“It’s constantly being updated,” Rafiq said of the subset, “but right now the emphasis on V2X is minimizing traffic congestion by increasing efficiency, and road safety.”
More importantly for collision repairers, Rafiq said, is that it will lead to fewer collisions.
“Collisions will still happen; I’m not saying it will eliminate them,” Rafiq said.
He said there will be an aftermarket to serve V2X data, and the data could be used to treat collisions that do happen with more intelligence.
For example: if an ADAS feature quit working because it was too foggy, leading to a collision, that data could be sent to both the OEM and the local government that’s maintaining the “digital twin,” which could useful for improving autonomous driving.
The data could also potentially provide a detailed audit of a collision, like a “black box” on an airplane.
That information could help quickly identify the precise repairs needed, which could streamline the insurance claims process. It could even be used to optimize health care for people involved the collision.
One hurdle that needs to be cleared before V2X becomes more common is ensuring the security of vehicles owners’ Personally Identifiable Information (PII), which Rafiq said is being worked on now.
“If there was communication of information standardized between vehicles, and between the vehicle and the intersection, we would be saving lives and would have safer roads. That for me is the ultimate reason I’m in this industry,” Rafiq said.
Abby Andrews