Comments on: Will “Crash-Proof” Cars Make Drivers More Dangerous?

By: henning thomsen

henning thomsen — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:31:22 +0000

I am just wondering, why the Swedish car company decides to go to Copenhagen, Denmark to test this new pedestrian detection device???? Not enough people in the streets in Swedish cities? Or better hit a Dane (than a Swede) while testing it??

By: J. Mork

J. Mork — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:56:35 +0000

How about a system that stops a car for 5 minutes if a pedestrian puts their palm on the body? That should keep the cars away from peds in the crosswalk.

By: Streetsman

Streetsman — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:40:39 +0000

There should be some way soon to use computers to limit the speed of a car to the speed limit of the public road it is on, using GPS or something. The device that limits the cars speed would then be required for all vehicles at inspection. It could have an emergency override that notifies local PD and your insurer that the override has been activated. That by itself would do miracles for pedestrian safety

By: Daniel Nairn

Daniel Nairn — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:52:13 +0000

Giffe, I noticed the same clip! If those pedestrians had not noticed the car and kept walking it looks like they may have been hit. Not much explanation for that one.

By: Giffe

Giffe — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:31:13 +0000

Hahahaha! I love how it didn’t stop the driver from cutting off a bunch of pedestrians at the crosswalk.

By: Niccolo Machiavelli

Niccolo Machiavelli — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:41:56 +0000

Ben, I applaud your intention but there is already plenty of data in almost all vehicles, extracting it legally that is the issue. Dozens of states, under pressure from AAA and the “civil libertarians” have already passed legislation prohibit the cops from down-loading the data that is already there. New York is not one of them, yet. Since it would tend to bring insurance rates down one would think this fell into the doomed category of “no brainer” for the NY State Legislature to get cracking on. Not.

By: Ben

Ben — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:55:46 +0000

A system I so want installed before 2012 is EDR Electronic Data Recorders. It is amazing we have very little crash data simply becuase we don’t install this device.
Imagine if drivers knew they were bieng recorded right before the crash?

By: Vroomfondel

Vroomfondel — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:17:17 +0000

I got a chuckle out of the idea that the new system will prevent unnecessary accidents with pedestrians (around 1:26). It’s good to know that Volvo wants to limit itself to necessary accidents with pedestrians.

Also, the new technology doesn’t seem to do anything about rudeness; note how they cut off a group of pedestrians around 1:49.

By: poncho

poncho — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:37:50 +0000

but i guarantee you the typical response will be… why should i pay extra to protect a careless pedestrian? they should be a responsible citizen and get a damn car!!! at least thats my thoughts after reading this…
Only in Portland: Protests of ‘motorist discrimination’

By: Shemp

Shemp — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:22:23 +0000

You could also sentence convicted reckless drivers to install an after-market version of these things in their cars in the future, if we ever convicted anyone of reckless driving or similar.

By: jass

jass — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:04:09 +0000

This could lead to hilarious results in a shared street….or during a parade.

By: nanterking

nanterking — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:36:06 +0000

$700 a year reduction? I pay less than $500 a year total for car insurance.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:05:37 +0000

I suppose that insurance companies will offer a rebate for thusly equipped cars, as they do with antilock brakes.

By: Ian Turner

Ian Turner — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:05:34 +0000

The pedestrian detection system may be priced as a luxury item, but if it’s actually effective at reducing crashes, you would expect insurers to pick it up immediately as a source of discounts. It’s not hard to imagine insurance premiums dropping $700 per year, especially among certain demographics, meaning that the $3,500 sticker price could be recouped 5 years of the initial purchase.

From an actuarial perspective (as opposed to a marketing one), I imagine the drivers most likely to benefit from this technology are inexperienced younger drivers operating in dense urban environments. This is a demographic that neatly overlaps with those paying the highest insurance premiums today.