Safe At Any Speed
Car makers have, apparently, imagined building an injury-proof car—one that would keep passengers unharmed in any crash—for a while now. We didn’t even know that was considered a possibility, but Volvo recently went so far as to set a date for the completion of the ultimate safe car: 2020.
The automaker already offers ignitions that won’t operate if a driver is intoxicated, sensors that assess alertness and sound an alarm if the driver is dozy or drifting, and Global Positioning Systems to help prevent drivers from rushing to their destinations…
The car of the future will have even more foresight. Radar, sonar and other sensors will extend its so-called “deformation zone” until it becomes, in essence, a huge electronic bumper reaching out on all sides to gather information to feed back to the vehicle.
In a crash situation, where many drivers freeze, the car will be able to take over and steer or brake on its own. {Like a record-perfect robotic chauffeur} [via link]
