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EU Approves Anti-Collision Automobile Radar
Oscar writes "The European Union has approved frequencies for short-range radars that can detect collision dangers and automatically apply cars brakes.
The technology should be available by mid-2005.
'Short-range radar can save lives,' said Viviane Reding, the EU commissioner responsible for the decision, which opens radio bands while preventing radio interference to other essential users of these frequencies. Full text of the legislation is available in English, French, and German in PDF format."
There isn't going to be a sudden switchover from person-driven cars to AI driven ones. Instead you'll see the steady accretion of functionality that covers one situation after another, until there's nothing left for the 'driver' to do.
My Journal
let the stereotype arguments begin here.
Though to be fair the last study I heard showed that women were more likely to have a shunt in a car park, where said radar might prove useful. Wereas men were more likely to lose control and hit a tree. Radar less useful there.
CJC
I'd like to see that in the US, along with logic to determine if the car is tailgating and has been tailgating for more than a couple of seconds.
Along with the integration of a cattleprod in the driver's seat, of course.
However, since they auto industry doesn't employ BAEFHs (bastard automotive engineers from hell), a simple "Warning - tailgating" or a beeper would be acceptable.
www.eFax.com are spammers
Think of the cheap availability of radar jammers.
Apply copiously to a stream of traffic to find the few cars that automatically brake.
Watch the cars behind them plow into them.
Profit! (If you're a body shop or tow truck)
Of course, the signalling is going to be sufficiently difficult that you have to aim it at the car you intend to fool and send a special signal specifically designed to affect just the one car. If the system sees a car 50 feet ahead, then one a few inches ahead it'll probably ignore it is a spurious signal if the changre happens 'instantaneously'. If it sees a car move into its lane from the side the signal would be different, and if the car in front slowed quickly the signal would also be different.
Still, I can't wait for people to start complaining about accidents that happened because they thought the car would stop, or rear end collision because the car did stop. There's so much liability that car makers are about 15 years behind where we could be.
-Adam
The same thing that happens now. If I'm driving and you're riding my a$$ and I stop suddenly, you better stop before you hit me. If not, you're at fault, you're going to pay the insurance premiums, you're going to pay the fines, etc. I can't believe you got modded insightful for this.
Too many people today drive as if they are more important than everyone else on the road. They tailgate while waiting to pass, they cut off traffic because they stayed in the left lane (North America) too long and have to cut over quick to make their exit/turn.
The idea behind the technology is that the computer knows that most the time the car infront of you stops it's not necessary to *slam* on your breaks. It knows immediately how slowly you can break so as to keep your driving smooth but also slow down fast enough.
Bottom line, this technology would cut down on sharp breaks.
In Ohio, they had alot of troubles with ABS. What happened was that the state troopers got a new radio system. There was a small problem however. Whenever a trooper used a radio beside a newer Caddilac with ABS, the Caddy would start braking hard randomly as the driver was driving.
When they eventually started looking into this, it turned out that the state trooper radio was tuned to the same frequency as that used to control the Caddilac ABS, therefore causeing these problems.
Now, I don't know if anyone died from this, however, it seems to me that a new braking technology like this would be subject to alot of assorted bugs. Like an earlier poster mentioned, someone with a radar jammer could really screw you over. It seems to me that anyone with any electronic ability would be able to find someway to make your life miserable.