In car manufacturing, we are seeing the development of several new technologies that are specifically designed to reduce the number and severity of accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists. In the last year or so, both Ford and Volvo have released details of the technology they have developed for collision avoidance systems.
To help answer some of these vital issues, Automotive IQ has produced an exclusive artice on the topic of:
"Technology to Improve Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety"
Want to learn more? Download the article here: http://bit.ly/pawsey_article
The article goes into detail about the following key issues:
• Technology to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety
• Latest technology used by leading OEMs:
o Ford: The ‘obstacle avoidance’ system that uses automatic steering and braking to avoid collisions
o Volvo: Latest technology being used specifically for cyclist detection, consisting of a radar unit integrated into the car’s grille, a camera fitted in front of the interior rear-view mirror, and a central control unit.
• Up-to-date information regarding Euro NCAP testing
• Overview of legislation to improve cyclist safety
Visit also our conference about Pedestrian Protection:
http://bit.ly/RegisterPS
Technology to Improve Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety
1. Technology to Improve Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety
By Colin Pawsey
EU targets for reducing fatalities on Europe’s roads were laid out in the Transport
White Paper, which set a target for 2011-2020 of reducing the number of deaths on
the road by half. In 2010, 31,500 people lost their lives on the roads of the 28 EU
Member States, and this is the baseline figure for the strategy.
Facts and figures
In a report released by the European Commission in March 2014, statistics showed
that during the period 2010-2012 the number of deaths reported on the road in the
EU had reduced by 11%. However, the reduction in pedestrian fatalities was only 8%,
three percentage points lower than the average. More alarmingly the number of
cyclists killed on the road increased during the same period by 6%. These figures do
not include the many more non-fatal accidents that occur on our roads, but as a
result the EC has highlighted that more needs to be done to reduce accidents
involving vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists.
A previous report by the European Transport Safety Council in 2012 highlighted the
types of accidents encountered by cyclists. The report showed that 56% of fatal
accidents involving cyclists between 2008 and 2010 occurred in cities and towns. It
also showed that during the same period, 52% of the accidents were a result of
collisions with passenger cars, 22% were collisions with goods vehicles and public
transport; making up 74% of the fatalities between the two vehicle groups.
Several manufacturers have begun to introduce collision-avoidance technology with
the purpose of reducing accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists, and Euro NCAP
has included the testing of such systems in the overall safety rating this year.