Car convoys may be innovation of the future

New Scientist : An automatic driving system—where cars are linked together into a convoy, or “platoon,” and the lead driver has the control—has just been road-tested in Sweden, writes Duncan Graham-Rowe for New Scientist. To join a platoon, a car broadcasts its destination as it drives onto the freeway and a computer system tells the driver of any nearby platoons heading that way. Each car is fitted with a navigation and communication system, which measures the car’s speed and direction, constantly adjusting them to keep the car within a set distance of the vehicle in front. Such a system would allow cars to travel more closely together, thus reducing road congestion, and would reduce fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.