BMW announced earlier that they are working on a car-to-car communication system that exchanges a variety of traffic data and information between other drivers to help increase motoring safety. Now, General Motors has just announced that they’re working on their own efforts that can “read and watch the road ahead.”

Using small, portable devices over a wireless safety network—say for instance, smartphones—General Motors is designing a system that could warn other drivers of changing road conditions and real-time information on road hazards.

“These safety systems could provide a significant leap in automotive safety, but their effectiveness goes up dramatically as more people use them,” said Don Grimm, senior researcher for GM’s Perception and Vehicle Control Systems group. “By putting the technology into portable devices, we could make this potentially life-saving technology widely available and more affordable.”

To kick off, GM will be showcasing this new technology at the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress in Orlando, FL. However, there isn’t any word as to when this technology could be seen on cars. And to add, Grimm said that even though GM is working on fitting this technology on new cars, with the age of vehicles in the US averaging 10.2 years, they’re also searching for a way to retrofit older vehicles like OnStar did with their new rear-view mirror.

- By: Chris Chin