Technology really is making driving safer

Vehicle safety features are contributing to declining crash fatality numbers

Tech-carsafety

EVERY YEAR, MORE TECHNOLOGY is added to new cars and trucks, much of it in the name of safety. Once exotic technologies such as ABS (anti-lock brakes) and ESC (electronic stability control) are now mandatory equipment on every new car and light truck sold in Canada. Some vehicles feature as many as 10 or more airbags, including front airbags, side airbags, head-rail airbags, knee airbags, rear-window airbags — and even seat-cushion airbags.

Now, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) — everything from blind-spot warning and lane-keeping assist to adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking — have become common features, not just at the luxury level but also among many mainstream vehicles.

But has all that technology really made our vehicles safer? If so, does it ultimately have the potential to make crashes a thing of the past? The answer to the first question is a resounding “yes” and to the second a qualified “maybe.”

Traffic fatality rates in both Canada and the U.S. have been on a declining trend for more than 20 years – although there was a disturbing uptick in both numbers and rates between 2011 and 2012, the most recent years for which full data are available.

In 1993, about 3,600 people died as a result of traffic crashes on Canadian roads. By 2011, that number had fallen progressively to 2,023 — a reduction of more than 40 –per cent — although there was a slight uptick to 2,077 in 2012. The fatality rate per 10,000 registered vehicles was about 2.1 in 1993 and just 0.93 in 2012.

Perhaps not all that reduction in crash fatality numbers resulted from improvements in vehicle safety features, but it’s a reasonable conclusion that a significant part of it did. Studies in both Europe and the U.S. have confirmed the positive impact of many of the safety technologies in real-world experience. In particular, ESC has been, quite literally, a lifesaver.

It’s also reasonable to assume, based on purely anecdotal evidence, that such dramatic improvements did not result from improved driver training and skills.

The interruption in the trend of declining fatality numbers in 2012, which also occurred in the U.S., has some observers concerned, however. They suggest that it equates with the growing problem of driving distraction — much of which can also be tied to advancing technologies, both mobile and built into vehicles.

So the question becomes, can technology continue to help make cars and their occupants safer, perhaps preventing crashes altogether, or will it tilt the equation the other way, exacerbating the dangers inherent in driver distraction?

It’s a fine line to walk. Automakers are caught between the conflicting needs of minimizing distraction and maximizing safety while at the same time satisfying the growing wants of customers for more infotainment products and connectivity capabilities.

Some suggest that self-driving cars will be the answer, and they may be. But we’re still a long way from seeing such vehicles on the road in numbers significant enough to have a major safety impact.

Before we reach that utopian dream, however, connected vehicles are the probable next step. We’re not talking about vehicles connected to the Internet here, but rather, vehicles that communicate with each other and their surroundings. Beyond just reducing fatalities and injuries, their role will be to reduce or eliminate vehicle collisions altogether, or at the very least to mitigate their consequences.

Many of the technologies already in use for a range of ADAS technologies, including camera- and LIDAR-based systems, will continue to play a role in more advanced crash-avoidance systems. But they will be aided by V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle) and V2I (Vehicle to Infrastructure) communication systems that essentially tell each other to steer clear — like electronic foghorns — and automatically respond to each other’s signals.

V2V communication allows vehicles to send and receive such basic information as location, speed and direction of travel. V2I communication shares information about traffic signal phase, road attributes and surface and weather conditions. Each technology has the potential to mitigate traffic collisions and congestion. Together, they can be integrated with the active safety features already available in many vehicles.

Such systems are now at near-production stages of development and are undergoing testing around the world. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating such systems, with the goal of making them mandatory on new vehicles, perhaps by the end of this decade.

They’re likely to become reality well before fully autonomous vehicles do. Just one more step in the effort to make road fatalities a thing of the past.

About Gerry Malloy

Gerry Malloy is one of Canada's best known, award-winning automotive journalists.

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