Even the best Formula 1 drivers have accidents, but experts believe that many accidents and fatalities can be avoided in the future, reports BBC News.
Every year, over a million people around the world die in car accidents. Most often they happen due to human error – driving too fast in relation to the conditions, wrong decisions, inattention or inability to predict.
According to specialists, the car should take care of itself, supporting and relieving the driver. It must also provide greater safety in the event of a collision.
Volvo relies on automatic brakes that are activated when another vehicle approaches from the front or the side. Their operation is enabled by sensors detecting objects in the vicinity and the GPS system. The research on the prototype gave promising results – despite pressing the gas pedal, it was not possible to crash into the test inflatable obstacle.
General Motors has developed an intelligent cockpit that supports the driver’s senses – Advanced Vision System. Infrared cameras film his head and check where he is looking. Thanks to this, the car knows how to help. For example, in the event of fog, it displays an image of the road with clearly defined shoulders on the windshield.
In order to develop better security features, it is necessary to use test dummies that map different parts of the human body. Thanks to the mannequins, it is possible to determine what forces acted on individual bones or soft tissues during the accident and to what extent they were reduced by the used protections. Currently used mannequins are to be replaced in the past by virtual models, which reflect the behavior of the human body even better and are much cheaper to operate.
However, if an accident does occur and the safety measures fail to prevent injury, a robotic physician, designed by specialists at the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, could step in. Thanks to the robot equipped with cameras, the best doctors can see a patient placed in a distant center, make a diagnosis and make a decision on further treatment.
The first hour after the accident is the so-called golden hour – this is when the brain swells, threatening to damage it. A quick diagnosis and initiation of treatment should save a large proportion of those affected.
There are already cars on the market which, in the event of any irregularities, notify the relevant services about their location. The next step may be the Urgency Algorithm developed by Dr. Jeff Augstein’s team – reporting the forces acting on passengers after an accident. This is to facilitate the preparation of a possible rescue operation. (PAP)