It shouldn’t come as too great a surprise that a great majority of crashes involve pedestrians.
One car company, Volvo, has reacted faster to the fact and devised a system to prevent pedestrian accidents from taking place and it will be available in a matter of months.
In order to test the new technology in big city traffic, a disguised prototype of the Volvo S60 with two safety experts on board has been rolling through the streets of Copenhagen.
With a goal to eventually develop a car that is virtually incapable of crashing. Their first step is the introduction of the Volvo S60 in 2010, with the ability to detect a pedestrian in front of the car and brake automatically if the driver doesn’t react in time.
The Collision Warning system works by combining data obtained from a dual-mode radar unit in the grille and a video camera mounted by the rear-view mirror. While the radar spots approaching objects at a distance, the camera hones in and identifies those potential hazards. If an emergency arises, a warning is sounded, and a light is flashed on the heads-up display.
Enough talk, watch the monstrosity (which presumably won’t look like this once released) in action.
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It is respect for life.
One thing to say. Amazing!
No, not the car and the pedestrian detection (that ain’t gonna stop’em from hitting pedestrians at 100 mph outside the city), but the fact that Copenhagen, with a population of more than 1 million, have such beautiful streets, few cars, lots of bikes. In my city, though it’s inhabited by some 500 thousands, we have 20 minute traffic jams on 6 lane streets every day, and all of these drivers really hate bikes. Here I can’t even ride on the far left lane (to turn left), according to the rules. And parking? Impossible! Cars fill sidewalks so that you can’t get through on foot but there isn’t a single place to park your bike.
And believe it or not, this city where everybody has 3000 cubic centimeter engine cars, is the capital of Europe’s poorest country. This is incredible.