Slashdot Mirror

• 'The system will use radar to determine the distance to the next car ahead on the road and how fast it is going. A computer chip in the so-called smart car will monitor the speed of the motorist's car.
  
  If a motorist uses the system's new type of cruise control and does not see vehicles ahead slowing or stopped, the smart system would sound an alarm and an indicator button would flash, telling the driver the car must slow down, Colgin said. The cruise control system also would automatically apply the car's brakes, he said.
  
  In instances in which very hard braking was required, the driver also would have to step on the brake pedal to stop the car in time, he said. If the cruise control system was off, the car would only warn the driver but not brake, Colgin said.'
  
  The system would also use a camera to ``see'' the road ahead and ``understand'' when vehicles were turning along a curved road. That way, the smart car would be able to figure out which car is ahead of it in a lane, even when the lane is not straight ahead, Colgin said.
  
  ``This is a fully automatic system which sorts out which is the most threatening vehicle ahead,'' he said. ``It is meant to solve the problem of the inattentive driver.''

• VDIM, an evolution of Toyota's vehicle stability control system, integrates anti-lock braking, electronic-power steering and traction control. The automaker says the system is the first of its kind. Analysts expect the technology to be adopted next on the Toyota's Lexus lineup.
  
  Senior research executive Tetsuo Hattori explains that previous braking, steering, vehicle stability and traction control systems functioned independently. "With VDIM, each system is integrated and seamlessly managed. Moreover," he says, "control is actuated before the vehicle exceeds its movement threshold. This assures a high degree of preventive safety and significantly improves upon ordinary driving performance in terms of traveling, tuning and stopping."
  
  Hattori adds that VDIM "begins integrated control of the brakes, engine and steering before the vehicle reaches its limits, thereby achieving higher preventive safety performance and ideal vehicle kinetics." [In a test drive on simulated ice, the system did not allow the driver to veer off-course and spin the car.]'

I imagine this will be a new target of French suicide showoffs, bored with jumping off the Eiffel Tower.

It is intuitively appealing to believe that the problem with mobile phones is the use of your hands. It isn't. A number of studies have shown that there is no difference in accident rates between users of hand-held and hands-free phones.

Here's one reference

A second point is that the risk of using a cell phone, perhaps a factor of 4, is less than other risks we consider acceptable, like driving at night, or driving in bad weather, or driving unecessary distances.

For that matter, it may be that pulling over to use a phone is more risky than using it while driving. First, there is the risk of the act itself and of parking at the side of the road. Second, the same studies noted above show that risk persists for 10-15 minutes after the phone conversation is terminated. So the driver pulling back into traffic or otherwise manoevering in an unfamiliar situation may be at extreme risk.

The same Libertarian Party that believes that govt is evil and corporations would never choose profits over the public welfare?

http://www.accidentreconstruction.com/research/edr /faq.asp

One common unit from Vetronics can read out both GM and Ford airbag units. As of 2001, the other manufacturers weren't on board on this. It's just a little adapter box that plugs a laptop into the airbag unit.

The certification course for learning how to read out this data costs $250, not $5000, as someone else suggested. The Vetronics hardware and software, though, costs about $2500, not including the Windows laptop required.

When the airbag fires, the following data is stored:

• Vehicle speed (5 seconds before impact)
  
• Engine speed (5 seconds before impact)
  
• Brake status (5 seconds before impact)
  
• Throttle position (5 seconds before impact)
  
• State of driver's seat belt switch (On/Off)
  
• Passenger's airbag enabled or disabled state (On/Off)
  
• SIR Warning Lamp status (On/Off)
  
• Time from vehicle impact to airbag deployment
  
• Ignition cycle count at event time
  
• Ignition cycle count at investigation
  
• Maximum DV for near-deployment event
  
• DV vs. time for frontal airbag deployment event
  
• Time from vehicle impact to time of maximum DV
  
• Time between near-deploy and deploy event (if within 5 seconds)

Airbag units first started recording this data in some 1991 models, but it wasn't widespread until 1996.

Even from a wrecked vehicle, you can usually read out this data, although it may be necessary to pull the airbag controller from the vehicle.

Now that's just crash data. It's often possible to read out other units of the vehicle system as well, usually via the SAE J1978 OBD-II diagnostic connector near the steering column. This is more useful for diagnosing engine problems than for crash analysis.

More recent vehicles have a whole LAN on board, with many units that can be read out. Newer heavy trucks use a standardized SAE J1939 LAN (250Kb/s), and even have a network bridge between the tractor and the trailer. Engine/transmission/brake coordination, plus many auxiliary functions, takes place over that network. Some agricultural implements talk that protocol, too.

Incidentally, if anybody is into J1939 protocol stacks, please contact me. I need one, with source.