Thursday, March 7, 2013

Yuppie car detects bicycles

It's news to me, but apparently Volvo has had some car models with "pedestrian detection." And they are upgrading those models to also do "cyclist detection."

According to the article, the technology consists of a grille-mounted radar and a camera mounted on the inside rearview mirror. The radar detects moving objects in front of the car, and the images captured by the camera are used to identify the object. The car applies the brakes.

The author of the article asks, "Would you feel more safe if all cars had this technology? Or do you think it would cause drivers to pay less attention to bikers?"

Yes ... and yes.

I like the idea of technology supplementing safety. Every little bit helps. But technology can and does fail from time to time. And motorists are already prone to driving irresponsibly; all we need is for technology to give them an excuse for being even less attentive!

1 comment:

Clancy Anderson said...

It would of helped that lady that was texting yesterday when she passed by me way to close. I like the idea of technology supplementing an already safe driver.

A friend mentioned it might take a driver 3 hours to go 1 mile in a very busy city like New York or Paris.