Boys (and girls) love their cars. That’s a given. While electric cars are slowly gaining in popularity among certain populations, nothing beats the power and speed of the traditional gas-powered combustion engine. But along with that power and speed comes some significant problems called car accidents.
Every year, tens of thousands of drivers die in car accidents that might have been avoided had their cars been equipped with some of the newest high-tech gadgetry. One day in the not too distant future, just might make auto accidents a terrible thing of the past.
But until then, it’s important to keep in mind that if you become the victim of a bad car accident, you need to get in touch with the best personal injury lawyer you can find. Says the pros at Morris Injury Law, a Las Vegas car accident lawyer, a car accident has the power to change your life in a fraction of a second.
Says the Nevada Department of Public Safety & Transportation, the number of fatal car accidents that took place in Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, shot up almost 25 percent between 2020 and 2021 alone. Overall crashes increased by close to 20 percent. What’s even more tragic is that these numbers are typical of many metropolitan areas in the U.S.
The good news is that those alarming statistics could be on their way down sooner than you think. Now that new safety tech is being introduced to the auto industry, along with autonomous vehicles, it’s quite possible that vehicular crashes could potentially be eliminated or close to it, anyway.
According to a recent report by TechBullion, during the past few years, the automotive industry has realized rapid changes and advancements in safety technology that promise to have a dramatic impact on the way we drive our cars, vans, trucks, and more. The new developments are said to not only have demonstrated an improvement in the overall driving experience, but have also brought about a more efficient, safer, and even sustainable future of road transportation.
Defining Automotive Safety Tech
Automotive Safety Technology is said to refer to any safety advancements and/or innovations to a car or truck’s design that potentially lessen the chance of a crash, especially a fatal one. The safety improvements include software programs, sensors, electronic systems, mechanical components, and more that are integrated into modern-day vehicles. The advancements are engineered to work together to make your vehicle perform better, improve energy efficiency, and make driving and riding a far safer experience than in the past.
Safe Electric and Autonomous Vehicles
One of the most pervasive trends in the automotive industry in the past three years is a shift toward electric vehicles. The shift has been championed by the U.S. government over concerns about combustion engine carbon emissions along with fossil fuel depletion.
While the shift is largely political in nature and not nearly as popular as the government might have you believe, car manufacturers are making at least some investment in developing new electric cars that are powered by rechargeable batteries. It should be noted that the majority of the batteries are manufactured in China in coal-powered plants.
In addition to electric vehicles, autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles, although still primarily in the testing phase, promise to increase overall safety on the roads by greatly reducing the prospect of human error. Unlike their electric cousins, self-driving cars don’t pretend to save the planet, but they will save lives. Full stop.
Defining Self-Driving Cars and Trucks
Also known as semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicles, self-driving cars are presently said to be a hot topic among industry insiders and outsiders. These safe vehicles utilize advanced sensors and technology that allow them to navigate roads and highways without human interaction or input.
Perhaps the mere concept of the self-driving car might seem like the stuff of science fiction, but the technology not only presently exists, it is being tested and utilized on a limited level all over the world.
How do these self-driving or autonomous vehicles work? Says TechBullion, at base, they rely on a combination of sensors, software, and GPS mapping to safely navigate highways and byways. Naturally, if GPS is not operating in a particular area, the driver retains the option of operating the vehicle on a manual basis.
The key components of a self-driving vehicle include the following:
Sensor Safety Tech: These include lidar or light detection and ranging, camera, sonar, and radar to collect and analyze real-time data concerning the vehicle’s immediate surroundings. Sensors can detect pedestrians, road signs, traffic signals, other stopped vehicles, and more.
Safety Software Tech: The software collects the data from the sensors and analyzes how a car should proceed, yield, or stop altogether. It will also interpret road conditions such as icy or wet pavement and issue proper warnings.
Safe Mapping Tech: Autonomous driving would not be possible without the use of GPS mapping systems. The maps provide for a safe ride since they are also able to point out stop signs, traffic signals, lane markings, and frequently traveled roads and routes. They can also warn you about potential slowdowns like construction zones. Driving your favorite car or truck can be a terrific experience. It represents freedom and not just a way to get from point A to point B. New safety tech like self-driving cars and trucks promise only to make the experience more fun and, in the process, dramatically reduce the chance of crashing.
