Mercedes-Benz, through its MBRDNA, or Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, is supporting a massive field test that seeks to evaluate the Vehicle-to-Vehicle Model Deployment program of the United States Department of Transportation.

V2V Model Deployment aims to improve automotive safety, making use of wireless communications technology. The field trial, launched in Ann Arbor, Michigan, involves some 2,800 vehicles of the commercial, passenger, and transport variety. That is easily the largest field trial of connected vehicles, and it also involves various sectors like the government and the academe, apart from the automotive industry.

This V2V trial involves the use of 5.9 GHz DSRC, or Dedicated Short Range Communications. Mercedes-Benz, in an ongoing effort to help achieve accident-free driving, continues to support trials such as this one and continues to work with other automakers as well as government bodies in both Europe and the United States.

In the trial, a total of 8 C300 passenger cars and 3 Freightliner trucks were fitted with the DSRC systems. Passenger vehicle systems come with LED lighting for the dashboard that light up when there’s an impending risk of a collision, thus warning the driver of the potential danger. The systems used on the commercial vehicles are different, relying instead on tablets installed within the cockpit in order to show the warnings.

Data collection and analysis will be ongoing through a period of one year, during which residents of Ann Arbor will drive the cars around the area.