If vehicles could communicate directly with each other and share real-time information on road conditions, it would make for more informed drivers and eventually pave the way for self-driving cars. A system called C-V2X, which backers purport can communicate information faster and better than existing alternatives, was demonstrated for the first time Tuesday at Panasonic North America’s facility near Denver International Airport. “We can turn our cars into sensors, and we can send messages to cars about changing conditions,” said Chris Armstrong, director of Panasonic’s smart mobility program. V2X stands for “vehicles to everything” and backers are trying to prove that the technology is a better way to carry the massive amounts of data a connected transportation grid would generate than an older alternative called Dedicated Short-Range Communications technology, or DSRC. Qualcomm Technologies provides the chips for C-V2X; Ford Motors, which is also testing DSRC, is providing the vehicles; and Panasonic North America is developing the cloud-based data platform that pushes the traffic information out to users, like the Colorado Department of Transportation, another partner. Cars with the technology send out signals 10 times a second detailing speed, direction and other information from their internal sensors, such as brakes and air bags, to nearby roadside sensors. The river of data flows via fiber-optic networks into the Panasonic data platform, where it is filtered and organized so transportation workers can use it to monitor the road grid and spot emerging problems.