Toyota's new Prius is one of first that can talk to other cars

The new version of Toyota's best-selling Prius hybrid will come with technology that allows it to talk to other vehicles and objects like traffic signals.

It's one of the first examples of such technology being installed in a mass market car, and while it will be available initially only in Japan, the work there should help its introduction in other countries.

It's possible in Japan thanks to the country's standardization on a single frequency for so-called "Intelligent Transportation Systems." The 760MHz band was freed up when analog TV broadcasting ended in Japan in 2011.

At intersections equipped with the technology, traffic signals will beam data to cars about their status. So if the driver doesn't notice a red light, the car will automatically slow down because it knows it should stop.

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