The Automotive Industry Understands: Passive Just Doesn't Cut It
Folks are given a lot of advice these days. Newspapers, television programs, doctors - they all follow a similar theme. They advise people to exercise, communicate assertively, read a book and do a crossword puzzle. Be active. It's good advice that can't be denied. Passively allowing life to pass by just doesn't cut it.
Coincidentally, the same can be said about the automotive industry. For vehicle safety, the key word here, too, is "active." There's a good reason for this. Once upon a time, passive safety systems like seat belts, airbags and steering wheels were new technology. They are now essential components. It's hard to imagine a vehicle without seat belts or a steering wheel, or even airbags.
Every year, more than five million accidents result in injury worldwide. By 2025, experts predict one billion cars will be on the road. All those numbers can quickly add up to a lot of accidents if drivers, and the industry itself, aren't careful. Advanced automotive safety features are out there - features that can sense imminent crashes and adjacent vehicles, and that allow multiple in-vehicle systems to "talk" with each other. This kind of technology doesn't just wait for catastrophic events to happen; it helps drivers avoid dangerous situations and works with them to mitigate injury and property damage.
For example, pre-crash warning systems with forward sensors help to predict imminent crashes and communicate with other in-vehicle systems to deploy countermeasures. Such systems ingeniously integrate active and passive safety features to help reduce crash energy and enhance restraints benefits. This not only helps the driver to react more effectively but may help reduce injuries to other parties as well.
There is more: night vision systems integrate near-infrared illuminators into the headlights, and are used with an infrared-sensitive camera and a head-up display to improve the driver's nighttime visibility without blinding oncoming traffic. The adapted headlights illuminate the road ahead, the camera captures the image, and the display provides an enhanced image to the driver.
While night vision gives drivers a better view of what is happening on the road ahead, smart cruise control with headway alert and stop-and-go actually responds to conditions by reducing the need to manually adjust speed, apply brakes or disengage cruise control. This type of advanced system can also help alert drivers of slower traffic ahead.
What's even better is that vehicles may soon be able to communicate with each other lowering the chance of crashes. The recent allocation of wireless spectrum for vehicle-to-vehicle safety applications has resulted in a spike in research and standardization activity in the automotive industry. By communicating at speeds far greater than human reaction time, vehicles may soon be able to coordinate their own internal systems to mitigate accidents, as well as communicate with other vehicles with a goal of avoiding them altogether. Onboard computational power makes multifaceted risk-assessment and advice possible in real-time.
Carmakers and governments are working together to develop cooperative, distributed safety systems like these that may dramatically decrease the global number of roadway injuries and deaths. According to prominent researchers in automotive engineering, the convergence of control, communications and computations is making a dramatic impact on automotive design and development and is a major element in improving safety. It may be possible to create a world in which roadway accidents simply aren't a concern - and actually, that reality may not be far away.
More people are hitting the road, and more cars are out there every day - which can mean more dangerous situations if we don't respond quickly, adeptly and to the best of our abilities. The automotive industry understands this. With or without financial hardships, roadways are still active, people are still driving, and lives can still be saved with the right technology and the right integration techniques. So, yes, do a crossword, read a book, communicate well - but also make sure that the seat belt is just one of the safety features between you and the road.
Mike Trudel, Freelance Writer. Delphi is a leading innovator of automobile safety equipment and technology. To learn about Delphi's safety advancements, visit www.Delphi.com/4safe.
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