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> What this proves is that we need emergency lighting systems in the event of a crash. This is the first time I've been introduced to this idea, and it now fee

by badRNG 5y ago

> What this proves is that we need emergency lighting systems in the event of a crash. This is the first time I've been introduced to this idea, and it now feels immediately obvious that we should've been doing this for a long time.

encoderer 5y ago
Mercedes does this, along with a lot of other cool things they call “pre safe”, like playing a loud noise on the speakers to prepare your ear drum for the sudden change in air pressure. I’m sure other cars are doing the flashing lights now but few companies have invested as much in safety as Mercedes.
- nitrogen 5y ago
  I set off the hazard lights in the '94 BMW I fixed up in college when I turned up my subwoofer too loud once, so I think the accelerometer-triggered lights are, or should be, widespread already.
toomuchtodo 5y ago
There’s two parts to this. First, robust response to a crash. Maybe this is lighting (flood LEDs on the back of first responder vehicles), maybe this is emergency vehicles with crash shock absorbers (Scorpion Impact Attenuators is a well known brand) that sit behind the accident in lanes of travel to protect responders at the accident scene. Cars should attempt to detect this, but it should be expected this may fail. The crash absorber will take the brunt of the crash, but everyone is going home to their families with some tears shed by the insurers. This applies to all vehicles with traffic aware cruise control and lane keeping who can’t reliably detect stoped vehicles (which is all automakers). Second, first responders (through dispatch) should be able to issue an alert to Google Maps and any other traffic aggregator to alert about an accident in a lat long “bubble” (think a TFR in air navigation, pushed out over ADS-B or a data link) with an expiration time. Vehicles would receive this event and temporarily apply a reduced speed limit in the area (one that the driver could override, but that’ll be logged in the black box when they push the accelerator past the temporary limit). This also provides alerting to the driver to be attentive about an upcoming event, just like Waze alerts you to an upcoming accident or speed trap. The vehicle integration is key, as the robotics is what needs the safety context and awareness. Now, if you’re not paying attention as a driver, no amount of tech and effort helps, and these folks end up killing themselves and others every day with inattentive and distracted driving.
- mikhailt 5y ago
  I believe there was an attempt to make car to car communication system mandatory in US so that every single car on the road can talk to each other but I admit, I do not know how all of this worked and what happened in the end or if this is still ongoing.
  - toomuchtodo 5y ago
    I can’t speak to consortium work such that you mention (V2V comms), but Google and Tesla could, today, use their existing traffic data feeds and mapping tools to both allow first responders to create events and for the vehicles to interpret and action that data. This is also vastly cheaper than LiDAR on every vehicle in the short term.

by badRNG 5y ago

encoderer 5y ago

Mercedes does this, along with a lot of other cool things they call “pre safe”, like playing a loud noise on the speakers to prepare your ear drum for the sudden change in air pressure. I’m sure other cars are doing the flashing lights now but few companies have invested as much in safety as Mercedes.

nitrogen 5y ago
I set off the hazard lights in the '94 BMW I fixed up in college when I turned up my subwoofer too loud once, so I think the accelerometer-triggered lights are, or should be, widespread already.

toomuchtodo 5y ago

There’s two parts to this. First, robust response to a crash. Maybe this is lighting (flood LEDs on the back of first responder vehicles), maybe this is emergency vehicles with crash shock absorbers (Scorpion Impact Attenuators is a well known brand) that sit behind the accident in lanes of travel to protect responders at the accident scene. Cars should attempt to detect this, but it should be expected this may fail. The crash absorber will take the brunt of the crash, but everyone is going home to their families with some tears shed by the insurers. This applies to all vehicles with traffic aware cruise control and lane keeping who can’t reliably detect stoped vehicles (which is all automakers). Second, first responders (through dispatch) should be able to issue an alert to Google Maps and any other traffic aggregator to alert about an accident in a lat long “bubble” (think a TFR in air navigation, pushed out over ADS-B or a data link) with an expiration time. Vehicles would receive this event and temporarily apply a reduced speed limit in the area (one that the driver could override, but that’ll be logged in the black box when they push the accelerator past the temporary limit). This also provides alerting to the driver to be attentive about an upcoming event, just like Waze alerts you to an upcoming accident or speed trap. The vehicle integration is key, as the robotics is what needs the safety context and awareness. Now, if you’re not paying attention as a driver, no amount of tech and effort helps, and these folks end up killing themselves and others every day with inattentive and distracted driving.

mikhailt 5y ago
I believe there was an attempt to make car to car communication system mandatory in US so that every single car on the road can talk to each other but I admit, I do not know how all of this worked and what happened in the end or if this is still ongoing.
- toomuchtodo 5y ago
  I can’t speak to consortium work such that you mention (V2V comms), but Google and Tesla could, today, use their existing traffic data feeds and mapping tools to both allow first responders to create events and for the vehicles to interpret and action that data. This is also vastly cheaper than LiDAR on every vehicle in the short term.