A Pedestrian Collision Avoidance System
They are talking on BBC Breakfast about the sort of sound that electric cars should make.
As someone, who for a few months had very limited vision to the left, I can sympathise, but really do we want to negate one of the big advantages of electric cars; the fact that they are silent, which I think makes people drive them slower.
So could we do something better to stop collisions between vulnerable pedestrians and vehicles. And of course between cyclists and vehicles too.
With airliners they have a system called TCAS or Traffic Collision Avoidance System. It works well, as you don’t get too many collisions between airliners.
So could something simpler be used by pedestrians and vehicles that they might not see or hear.
In it’s simplest form a vehicle would emit a coded electronic signal with perhaps a range of say twenty to fifty metres. Pedestrians would perhaps have a wristwatch-sized device that made some sort of sound as the vehicle approached. I would suspect that smart phones could also be developed to be pedestrian devices.
Thinking about this idea, it would have other implications.
- You could just drive up to your garage door and a detector programmed with your vehicle’s code would open the door automatically.
- Systems could be used to make car parks more user-friendly. All you would have to do is drive in and out and the system would bill you automatically.
- Vulnerable pedestrians, such as the blind and deaf, could also carry an emitter, which could be received by vehicles to warn them that the person by the side of the road had limited vision or hearing.
- There could also be an emergency mode, so that say if a pedestrian was feeling unwell or had a probe, they could immediately call help from those near at hand. In fact borrowing from flying rules, you could have two levels of emergency; serious and I just need a little bit of help. The latter might be used by say someone who was blind or a bit confused, who perhaps was lost in a strange town.
- One of my biggest problems is those in scooters, who drive them fast in places like shopping malls and come up behind me. I was nearly run over in Canary Wharf yesterday, by someone going far too fast and only avoided trouble, because the lady driving it, hit a man, who called her a stupid idiot in a very loud voice. A device warning of fast traffic from behind would have avoided that problem.
The possibilities are endless.
I doubt it will happen though.
The Anonymous Widower 
As a member of the BVWS (British Vintage Wireless Society), as well as many other services and benefits, I receive a DVD each Christmas. These contain mainly technical films on such subjects as radio/TV/component maunfacturing, but usually there is something of recent historical interest. One of these films was made in the 50s on traffic problems in the early days of the motor car. There were the obvious problems of drivers (no driving test), vehicles (poor brakes, no lights), but two things came out as being the cause of most accidents. The first was the lack of any control at junctions; cars simply interacted at crossroads with mo marking, lights or roundabouts, leading to collisions with both parties claiming they “got there first”. The second problem however was pedestrians. Being not used to the speed of cars, nor to the sound they made, pedestrians just walked out into the road, oblivious of the danger. It took a while for pedestrians to get used to the sound of a motor car and equate it with danger. I fear that the use of a sound on electric cars that is different from the sound we are used to will have the same result.
The idea of electronic communication between the vehicle and the pedestrian is a good one and could also be used to identify vehicles jumping red ligths and exceeding the speed limit (the car could actually transmit its speed and identity within the digital message). I am not sure how we make pedsetrians carry the device, unless we move the burden of proof in an accident from the driver to the pedestian if the pedestrian is not using one.
I do think that vulnerability should be the important parameter when judging who should take the responsibility for accidents. It is the responsibility of a vehicle driver to avoid bicycles and pedestrians, and the responsibility of cyclists to avoid pedestrians.
As for mobility scooters, they are great for those who depend on them, but I fear that two thirds of all users have no real need. They are just overweight and/or lazy. My mother is 91 and without hers she would never be able to go anywhere. She has heart and kidney problems and this prevents her from walking more than a few yards without having to sit dowm. She takes care, and normally only uses it when my sister or I are present. Maybe users should prove their need for a scooter before being allowed in pedestrian areas.
However, all that changes when I am old (in about 30 years) as I am going to have a Segway and run over all the young people – just joking.
Comment by John | May 17, 2011 |
Look at how transponders work in the field of aviation. Vehicles don’t need anything that complicated, but properly used they are a great aid to safe flying. There are privacy problems if the vehicle trandsponder was used to check speed and driving competence, but for many purposes like parking, security and warning, they would be a great help.
As for pedestrians. Just think of the zebra crossing at the end of my road. It’s not dangerous, but if a deaf pedestrian had a watch sized detector for vehicles, then they could quickly check it was safe to cross.
On the canal towpath near me there is a code to keep pedestrians safe from cyclists, where the latter should ring the bell twice as they are about to pass. Many don’t ring, but a transponder based system would be a great help.
Comment by AnonW | May 17, 2011 |
I have trigeminal neuralgia, and all those electronic devices would be a concern, as some sounds etc above human hearing levels do affect it.
Scooters – there are are courses we can go on to learn to use them safely and sensibly. Even when going at walking speed, which I usually do, people literally walk into me, because they arent looking where they are going.
Scooters can cost thousands of pounds, most people using them are not too lazy to walk. I am fat, actually would be mo re disabled if I had been thin when I had the accident, according to the neurosurgeon. I really wish I could walk further than a short distance.
Comment by liz | May 17, 2011 |