Danger ahead: electronic technology gives drivers margin of safety they need to avoid accidents - Electronics - automobile safety products - Statistical Data Included

Automotive Industries, May, 2002 by Andrea Wielgat

Expert say if drivers had just one extra second of warning time accidents could be reduced by 80 to 90 percent. Just one second to dramatically reduce accidents, save lives and prevent vehicle damage.

Sound nearly impossible?

Not with coming technology that helps vehicles "Think" in safety critical situations.

Suppliers and automakers are vigorously working on electronic components that deteet possible accidents and warn consumers of impending danger. That is good news to drivers who could see a 37 to 74 percent reduction of rear-end crashes by the use of headway detection systems, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. (NHTSA).

While some automakers and suppliers are using individual components and some are using systems, most acknowledge that the technology will be available on production vehicles within the next 10 years. They also say that while consumers will always look for a deal when car shopping, they will pay the extra money to keep themselves and their families safe.

Cameras and sensors keep watch

Automakers and their supplier partners are using a complicated combination of sensors, cameras and radar devices to "see" accidents before they happen and give drivers time to react to a potential accident situation. Donnelly Corp. has been using camera systems in vehicles for 10 years. The cameras help drivers keep an eye on babies sitting in the backseat or give a view of what's happening behind the vehicle.

The supplier took a more advanced stance when it replaced all the mirrors on the GM Precept concept vehicle with cameras several years ago. The cameras took three images and merged them into one for the driver.

"It demonstrates clearly you can look at a screen and see everything," says Frank O'Brien, vice president, corporate planning for Donnelly. "There isn't really any blind spot."

Now Donnelly is working to bring technology that eliminates blind spots to production vehicles.

The supplier is developing a system - it is tentatively called ElectronicVision -- that will place four camera-like sensors in several strategic places around the vehicle including the rear, front and both side-view mirrors. The system uses the camera to provide a myriad of safety features including lane change help, forward and rear crash sensing, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, sign detection and distance detection. Once the cameras detect an obstacle they will warn the driver through audio or visual alerts.

"The technology is available to solve a lot of problems that couldn't be solved in the past," says Ken Schofield, vice president, advance engineering for Donnelly.

Delphi Corp. uses similar technology in its Integrated Safety Systems (ISS) vehicle. Originally shown at the Paris auto show in 2000, Delphi's next generation ISS uses several safety systems working together to optimize safety in all driving situations, says the company.

And as the mother of three young children, Mary Schafer, product line executive for body and chassis electronic for Delphi Corp., is particularly happy to see the industry's and Delphi's safety advancements. She recognizes that the technology could give drivers time to react and help them put up a defense system.

"Wholeheartedly we believe in safety," she says. "Period."

The company is working with NHTSA and General Motors Corp. to see how consumers react to forward-looking collision warning systems. As part of a $32 million government-sponsored safety research program, Delphi has equipped vehicles with Collision warning and allowed consumers to drive them as their main vehicle in their normal driving conditions.

On-board data acquisition systems will record traffic and vehicle data and monitor how drivers respond to different types and levels of warning. Delphi will then use the information to develop ongoing and future products.

One of those future products is the ISS, which the company says, develops synergies between active and passive safety to help avoid accidents and protect occupants if an accident occurs. It uses cameras and radar to monitor what is happening around the vehicle with its forward looking pre-crash sensing system, back-up warning technology and lane-change departure system.

The company's workload management system goes one step further using a variety of biometrics systems to determine a driver's alertness. They include eye tracking and respiration-rate monitoring. It also uses a heart-rate monitoring system that measures blood pressure variations through the small differential voltages between the driver's hands while on the steering wheel, Delphi says. The driver's overall alertness level will be tailored into the system's Warnings.

Suppliers race to be first

Expert opinion differs on when consumers can expect to be able to buy a vehicle with an integrated collision warning system. Donnelly hopes to have their system on the market by 2005 or 2006, says O'Brien. Timing will be helped by the increased use of navigation systems which often include viewing screens and advanced electronic capability.