Whilst there are plenty of trials ongoing using driverless cars to see if that is going to be the future behind the wheel, we humans continue to have control of our car for the time being.
Human error certainly plays its part in many car crashes and that is one of the principal reasons why there are plenty of claims for car accident compensation being filed on a daily basis, but at least modern technology is helping us try and keep safer before the robots take over.
Accident reduction
If you take a look at accident statistics in the United States, which tends to mirror our driving habits in other parts of the world, the vast majority of car crashes are caused by driver error.
Boston Consulting Group have carried out extensive studies and believe that technologies such as automatic braking and lane control assistance could cut the number of accidents on our road by up to 28%.
The research goes on to make the bold claim that a wide scale adoption of the available technologies could eventually lead to a 90% reduction in accidents over a period of time. Considering that millions of lives around the world are lost due to automotive accidents every year, using technology to reduce the rate of accidents certainly has plenty to recommend it as a safety strategy.
Using artificial intelligence
The use of artificial intelligence is definitely no longer confined to the movies and a deep learning neural network called Brain4Cars is proof of that.
This system was developed to monitor drivers using face detection and tracking software and alert them when it thinks they are about to do something wrong, such as drift it another lane.
The technology studied the driving of a number of different volunteers over a period of time and then using this data, it has been able to produce a system based on artificial intelligence technology which allows it to anticipate your potential errors before they have a chance to cause an accident.
Distracted driving
Statistics related to accidents involving distracted driving do not make good reading.
Almost 80% of all accidents occur as a result of driver distraction just prior to the incident occurring, such as texting, or even adjusting the radio or heater settings.
Technology such as Mobileye provides a collision avoidance and driver assistance system and whatever type of smartphone you have, there is software available that encourages you to use your phone safely whilst behind the wheel or even restrict the services available until you end your journey.
Using your phone while driving is illegal so anything that helps you stay on the right side of the law is always worth considering, especially if it helps to keep you safe as well.
Driverless technology
The sight of driverless cars on our roads probably won’t be a commonplace sight until at least 2030 but in the meantime, there is plenty of technology that is helping to tackle the level of accidents caused by human error.
Cars that come with self-driving features like auto-parking are just the first step and by 2020, almost every major car company plans to offer models with self-driving features.
Modern auto tech is having a big impact and hopefully this will be reflected in a reduction in the accident rate on our roads in the future.
Isaac Trevizio is an auto technician and a fully-fledged motoring enthusiast. He loves sharing his insights on motoring developments and topics and is a regular online contributor for a several motoring websites.
