4 . Cars could soon be communicating with each other using 5G to make drivers aware of upcoming dangers, scientists claim. The ultra-fast mobile Internet would allow for rapid information transmission and could make drivers aware of black ice, pot holes or other dangers up ahead.

Several car manufacturers are already integrating 5G into their vehicles, including as a tool to welcome the coming of self-driving vehicles. Experts believe the high-speed connection will also improve the reliability and capability of automated vehicles to the point where they will be safer than the manual cars being driven today. They predict the number of road traffic accidents — which according to the World Health Organization (WHO) account for more than 1. 3 million deaths and up to 50 million people injured worldwide every year — will drop thoroughly as a result. Dr Dimitrios Liarokapis, a member of the research group, said: “With the help of 5G, an early warning system that alerts (给……报警) drivers is possible within the next few years. Cars that are close enough to the danger area will send warning messages to other cars around them using short-range communication technologies, but also to cars further away using 5G, fast and reliably. Then those cars will transmit the same information to cars near them and so on, forming a joined-up, multi-vehicle communication chain that stretches far and wide.”

Automotive giant Ford is already working on connected cars. Earlier this year it revealed its intention to fit 80 percent of its 2020 vehicles with technology that warns drivers about up-coming road accidents, bad weather and traffic jams. The system pools data from other connected road users, emergency services and the authorities and sends it from the cloud directly to the car. Alerts are shown on the car’s dashboard display warning the driver about what lies around the corner.