(BRUSSELS) - Cars stuck in traffic or on slippery roads will be able to communicate with other vehicles in a bid to cut down on traffic jams and road accidents, under European Commission plans unveiled Tuesday.

"Today's commission decision is a decisive step towards meeting the European goal of reducing road accidents," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.

Getting critical messages through quickly and accurately is a must for road safety."

She added that 24 percent of driving time in Europe was spent in traffic jams that could cost the EU economy 80 billion euros (124 million dollars) by 2010.

"So clearly saving time through smart vehicles communications systems means saving money."

The commission believes that the agreed communication system could also save lives.

In 2006, more than 42,000 people died and more than 1.6 million were injured in road accidents in the European Union.

The commission's decision was also aimed at "spurring public funding in essential roadside infrastructure," the EU's executive arm said in a statement.

Commission spokesman Martin Selmayr stressed that the decision gave the green light for industry to set up the systems in new cars. But there would be be no obligation on European road users to obtain or use the new technology when it became available.

A typical scenario for the use of the system would be for a vehicle to detect a slippery patch on a road and deliver the information automatically to cars located nearby.

Also if a traffic management centre wanted to inform drivers of a sudden road closure, and the alternative route to take, it could do send the information to a transmitter detector along the respective road, which would then pass it on to vehicles driving by.

Selmayr said the technlogy already existed and now the automobile and telecoms industries could work on putting it in cars, something that had been impossible before the pan-European band-width was made available.

While he would not put a date on its availabity to car users a European source said it was hoped it could be available by 2010-2011.

Text and Picture Copyright 2008 AFP. All other Copyright 2008 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.