Safety drive: harnessing technology to save lives on the road

This article gives an overview of current safety assistance devices for automobiles by opening with a number of statistics indicating the worldwide need for the improvement of critical driver errors, particularly in the developing world, that lead to high mortality and injury rates. Driver error, which is the reason for 95 percent of accidents it is explained, can be helped first by better education as socially-based problems such as alcohol impairment, speeding, and not using safety belts are all major problems. While locks that ensure the driver has not imbibed an excess of alcohol immediately preceding her driving exist, the technology remains expensive and impractical. The second human factors problem listed is that of speed, as obeying speed limits would cut accidents by 20 percent, it is thought. Data recorders to provide better information as to driver behaviors that lead to accidents will help with future work, and enforcement technologies can likewise provide researchers with important data. The final section addresses the intelligent transportation system (ITS) concept of car following.