Accident Prevention Technology

In-Vehicle Warnings
To bring the driver's mind back to the business at hand, engineers are experimenting with bells, audio warnings and rumbling of the driver's seat to wake up distracted drivers. Engineers are tinkering with the pulse rate of flashing "No Left Turn" signs to see what pace best fires the driver's neurons. Smart signs are seen as a quicker solution than waiting for the nation's fleet to include in-vehicle systems. Smart signs are everyone's safety devices while the in-vehicle systems are, at present, safety for the well off.


To get it right, the government is conducting research into how people drive their cars, interact with traffic signs and the warning systems in their cars. The Virginia Department of Transportation is conducting a year-long study using 100 cars driven by 100 ordinary people with extraordinary companions on board: five cameras that keep a constant eye on the front and rear of the car, the lane-tracking of the vehicle and the behavior of the driver, and a computer that crunches all the data. VDOT can download data from the cars on a regular basis from free parking spots allotted to the volunteers.

Driver Error
Because 90 percent of crashes involve driver error, VDOT wants to build a solid database of real time driver behavior. The program began in January and will run for a year. So far there have been seven accidents, mostly fender benders. The cameras have recorded drivers eating, chatting on the cell phone and putting on make-up while they drive. One young driver made a wrong turn at 3 a.m. into the CIA headquarters and was detained for 90 minutes because her vehicle contained five cameras and an on-board computer. The car was held for two days and returned with its data wiped.


Heavy trucks moving across country have an annual crash rate of 4,770 according to DOT statistics. Over half of those accidents occur in the front of the truck. Freightliner, a division of DaimlerChrysler has a SmartCruise control feature that detects a slower moving vehicle in front and decelerates the engine to maintain a safe following distance. It also has a radar-based collision warning system, which alerts the driver to potential hazards like a stopped vehicle in the roadway. When a potential hazard is detected, the driver gets both visual and audible warnings.

Rollover Alerts
A crash involving a tractor-trailer on urban beltways has the potential to snarl traffic for hours. A new anti-rollover system in the Freightliner works with the anti-lock braking systems and alerts the driver to a potential rollover and slows the truck to reduce the risk of an accident. Some trucks have GPS tracking systems that can alert the driver when he or she approaches a high-accident area. Trucking companies that transport hazardous materials use this system to alert the company if the truck is in an accident and management can then contact local authorities to inform them of the material(s) onboard and how it can best be cleaned up.