Automakers know the best way to deal with an accident is to avoid it entirely.
Cars or trucks that can partially drive themselves will be available by the middle of the decade, with more sophisticated self driving vehicles coming by 2020, according to General Motors Vice President of Global Research and Development Alan Taub. Advances in so called “autonomous vehicle technology” are derived from the latest active safety systems, Taub told the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress in Orlando on Sunday.
Sensors, radars, portable communication devices, GPS and cameras are the tools that supply information to the driver and the automobile’s computer system. Combined with digital maps, the same technologies will allow the driver to let the vehicle concentrate on driving while he does something else. In theory, this could ameliorate the distracted driving epidemic in the U.S. that is responsible for thousands of deaths, and hundreds of thousands of injuries each year. And it could also be a decided sales advantage, and not just for companies with mature buyers.
“The technologies we’re developing will provide an added convenience by partially or even completely taking over the driving duties,” Taub claimed. “The primary goal, though, is safety. Future generation safety systems will eliminate the crash altogether by interceding on behalf of drivers before they’re even aware of a hazardous situation.”
GM and other automakers are already offering some of these safety systems. For example, a lane departure warning system is available on the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain; a side blind-zone alert is available on the Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon and Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban. Many vehicles from automakers now offer back-up cameras, which will soon be required by law. ( See DOT Proposes Rear View Visibility Rule. Endless Regulation? )
One interesting technology under development at GM is a crash avoidance system available on the 2012 GMC Terrain that uses a camera to help drivers avoid front-end and lane departure crashes. Other automaker systems on the market use much more expensive radar to do this. The GM crash avoidance system uses a high-resolution digital camera mounted on the windshield ahead of the rearview mirror to look for shapes of vehicles and lane markings, alerting the driver to possible collisions and lane departures.
“In the coming years, we believe the industry will experience a dramatic leap in active safety systems, and, hopefully, a dramatic decline in injuries and fatalities on our roadways,” Taub said. “GM has made a commitment to be at the forefront of this development.”
