Bipartisan Bill Would Force Automakers to Keep AM Radio in New Cars

Re:Bipartisan Bill Would Force Automakers to Keep AM Radio i... by cyclotron3k on Friday May 19, 2023 @05:17PM (#36006960)

100 cars driving down the highway. There's a freak storm about to break and FEMA needs to put out an emergency alert.

So they broadcast on all AM channels, all FM channels, satellite & internet radio, and broadcast text messages.

A driver would need to have: AM reception, but no FM signal. No cell phone (or no cell phone signal) and be a habitual radio listener for this law to make a difference.

How many of those 100 drivers fit that bill?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bipartisan Bill Would Force Automakers to Keep AM Radio i... by netsharc on Friday May 19, 2023 @06:20PM (#36007433)

At least in Europe, if enabled by the driver, the car radio listens for EON signals on FM channels, and switches to the indicated channel from whatever is playing (MP3, CD, another channel). They usually do this to indicate that a traffic announcement is happening on the other frequency.

But since this seems to be an FM radio addition, the law should've forced cars to have FM radio as well...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_Data_System

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bipartisan Bill Would Force Automakers to Keep AM Radio i... by jeauxlb on Sunday May 21, 2023 @04:40AM (#36019001)

At least in Australia, our national emergency broadcaster is primarily on AM. Commonly in bushfires, floods, etc, all other infrastructure can be knocked out in the initial moments, and AM tends to be the last resource standing.

I do not know what large natural disasters are like in the US, but expect that would only become more frequent and severe, with a similar kind of failure rate across technologies like FM and mobile phone coverage.

As many countries would likely follow the pattern set by large car manufacturers affected by this bill, I am heartened by it and hope it passes.

[ Parent | on HN ]