We seem to make so many silly mistakes on the road with a growing amount of distractions: plugging in ipods, texting with our eyes bouncing from the windshield to the cell phone screen, chatting with passengers about Die Hard IV or the Model UN, sipping on Route 44 sodas from Sonic, ect. So it was interesting when I came across several articles discussing studies researching the effectiveness of collision avoidance systems.
These systems are being developed to utilize new state of the art technologies such as “driving enhancement tools like vision improvement, antilock brakes, obstacle detection and collision warning systems,” which will reduce and hopefully prevent the occurrence of crashes;
The collision avoidance systems may achieve traffic safety by preventing accidents all together. According to one study, 60 percent of crashes at intersections and about 30 percent of head-on collisions could be avoided if drivers had an additional half -second to react.
Consumer Reports writes says “low-speed crashes happen every day. Forward collision avoidance systems are designed to prevent such rear-end collisions. A new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found that these systems are working to prevent about a quarter of these frequent crashes.”
Sometimes when I read about advancing technology, I have this little voice in the back of my head warning me not to trust robots, too many x-men and matrix movies I think. Maybe if I trust a computer to press my breaks, eventually it will be pressing the gas too (Does cruise control count?). But ultimately, I cannot help but encourage the development to systems which protect me and my fender.
-APPLE GLASS and MIRROR TEAM