I was driving to a mall today and I noticed a car which escaped a major collision.The driver of that averted a major accident by veering sharply to one side. He had noticed an obscure road divider at the last moment. Thankfully no one was injured but imagine if there had been another oncoming truck? The crash would have been fatal. Thus the bringing of Pre-Collision Technology again sprang to my mind.
Althogh this technology has been in the market since 2013, it is surprising that only a few countries and car companies around the globe encourage collision avoidance systems in cars. In India, I see only a handful of cars equipped with this tecnology to avoid bumps and road dividers. I have till now not encountered a car with a proper collision avoidance technology.
Anyhow, the question, first of all, is -what exactly is pre-collision tech? Well, as the name suggests , it is a safety system for automobiles to reduce the severity of collision. It often uses radar to determine the trajectory of your car and to alert you if you are going too fast or if your current speed will lead to collision ( a camera or laser sensor may also be used except that they are not functional in rainy weather). For cars with lower speeds (less than 50km/h) the sensor alerts the driver to brake in order to avoid collision. For higher speeds the sensor tells them the best way to steer clear of the crash by using brakes and steering. A survey conducted in the U.S shows that using pre-collision tech can avoid about 28,000 collisions and save over 1,000 lives which are lost in car crashes.
The working of a pre collision system is simple. The radar sends out waves which on rebounding predict the distance of an oncoming object. It is simiar to an echo sensor. The sensors are always active and hence are called "active safety warning system". Some systems alert their driver by beeping or by souding an alarm; however, there are some cars which automatically start braking while alerting the driver, thus avoiding a possibly dangerous collision. Car companies like Ford, Audi, Toyota, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz have installed such systems in their vehicles.
So my verdict on this automobile tech is that it should be adopted by more and more countries and car companies. It is a good and advantageous technology which contributes to your safety and to that of others.
Althogh this technology has been in the market since 2013, it is surprising that only a few countries and car companies around the globe encourage collision avoidance systems in cars. In India, I see only a handful of cars equipped with this tecnology to avoid bumps and road dividers. I have till now not encountered a car with a proper collision avoidance technology.
Anyhow, the question, first of all, is -what exactly is pre-collision tech? Well, as the name suggests , it is a safety system for automobiles to reduce the severity of collision. It often uses radar to determine the trajectory of your car and to alert you if you are going too fast or if your current speed will lead to collision ( a camera or laser sensor may also be used except that they are not functional in rainy weather). For cars with lower speeds (less than 50km/h) the sensor alerts the driver to brake in order to avoid collision. For higher speeds the sensor tells them the best way to steer clear of the crash by using brakes and steering. A survey conducted in the U.S shows that using pre-collision tech can avoid about 28,000 collisions and save over 1,000 lives which are lost in car crashes.
The working of a pre collision system is simple. The radar sends out waves which on rebounding predict the distance of an oncoming object. It is simiar to an echo sensor. The sensors are always active and hence are called "active safety warning system". Some systems alert their driver by beeping or by souding an alarm; however, there are some cars which automatically start braking while alerting the driver, thus avoiding a possibly dangerous collision. Car companies like Ford, Audi, Toyota, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz have installed such systems in their vehicles.
So my verdict on this automobile tech is that it should be adopted by more and more countries and car companies. It is a good and advantageous technology which contributes to your safety and to that of others.
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| A typical radar and camera sensing combo in a car to detect a possibilty of a collision |
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