Smart Car Technology That Increases Road Safety

We have come a long way in car safety technology over the years. Airbags, seat belts, headrests, and safety glass have all paved the way for more advanced technology such as lane departure warning, automatic braking, and back-up cameras.

Despite these new safety features, car accidents still cause over a million deaths each year. Car manufacturing companies are doing what they can to reduce those numbers by using new technology to make cars and streets safer for all.

So, what’s next? What can we be on the lookout for in smart car technology that will increase road safety?

Here are a few upcoming safety features that we will soon see in the smart cars of the future.

 

Parking Assistance

There are already some luxury vehicles with what is called Parktronic systems which can identify parking spaces autonomously and guide the driver step-by-step through the parking process so the vehicles fits perfectly into the parking spot.

Experts are working on advancing this system by creating a network that will allow parking garages to “talk” to cars via the internet so the vehicle could park on its own without a driver in the car. Passengers would be dropped off at the entrance to the garage, and then the vehicle would go park itself. To retrieve your car, you would simply need to call it back using your smartphone.

Self-Driving Cars

While self-driving cars seem scary to some, if they function correctly, these cars driven by technology would actually be much safer than human-driven cars. Most car accidents occur due to human error, and distracted driving is at an all-time high.

According to a study conducted by KPMG in a June report on the impact of autonomous vehicles, accidents would decline 90% by 2050 with the implementation of self-driving cars.

Self-driving cars are already in existence and have been successfully tested on highways with no collisions. Currently, they are being tested with someone in the car to override when necessary, but the goal is to eventually have vehicles on the road with no passengers whatsoever.

 

 

 

Connected Vehicles

Part of what would make autonomous vehicles work is this idea of “connected vehicles.”

Connected vehicles use the internet and wireless local networks to communicate with each other on the road. Not only would cars know information about the vehicles around them, but they could know road conditions and hazards that may be ahead. Vehicles could communicate with each other about accidents in real-time.

This car-to-car communication will help keep the roads safe and prevent accidents by communicating with the cars around them (i.e. tell the car in front of me that my car is about to rear-end them) before humans could even see what’s coming. Unfortunately for adrenaline junkies, that would mean no drifting on the road in these smart cars.

Researchers and road experts predict that connected vehicles could result in up to 50% decrease in the number of road traffic victims.

 

Active Health Monitoring Technology

Technology experts are also working towards cars that could monitor aspects of your health while driving to avoid any health-related accidents. This system would be able to detect certain cardiovascular issues, low blood pressure, or blood alcohol content levels.

This would not only benefit the driver and alert them of health issues, but it would make the roads a safer place for all.