Safe Speed Forums

Hi,

I’m on my final year studying a Product Design degree, and I am looking at current methods of communication between drivers and cars on the road, and how they can be improved?!

I am looking at this area as a result of road rage, and events being caused through lack of understanding why drivers may act in a certain manner.

So am just asking other people what they think to this and messages which could be used? A method of sending pre-defined mess seems to be the best option so to not spend time typing and distract from the road for the smallest amount of time, but need to create a list of possible ones.

Already thinking about ones such as “sorry” or “stop tailgating me” among others but looking for people’s ideas and opinions.

Thanks
Gav

I think a radio system that broadcasts your voice to all cars within (say) 100metres - 10metres (selectable by some kind of range tool). Would be simple and non-private (thus encouraging usage for road safety only). Another thing you could have would be transponders on cars, and you can press a button and you will be informed if there are any moving vehicles within 50 metres or whatever - helping you pull out from blind junctions in urban envrionments

Now "radio system that broadcasts your voice to all cars within (say) 100metres - 10metres (selectable by some kind of range tool)." -
mis use of this by eg the chav element gives me concern.

"you can press a button and you will be informed if there are any moving vehicles within 50 metres or whatever - helping you pull out from blind junctions in urban envrionments"

Forget the button - fit the transponder to all motorbikes --and make recievers available/COMPULSARY --might cut down on the smidsy problems with wide A pillers - you look but see no bike - yet you keep getting alarm might/just might make a difference by making us look round the piller..

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

My opinion: I fear such a system (especially the misuse of) could actually have the reverse effect; it could amplify or even cause road rage.
The root problem is one of driver attitude (amplified by drivers low standards of driving).



As an extension, we could have a system which warns of hazards/accidents and perhaps emergency braking of other drivers in close proximity.


That seems like a good idea on the surface but it could encourage reliance upon fallible equipment.

That is exactly my concern also. 'Low bandwidth' communications are frequently misunderstood. A couple of words is always going to be low bandwidth. A smile and a wave is far safer.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

That seems like a good idea on the surface but it could encourage reliance upon fallible equipment

Again -the better drivers would make sure it did function and see it as an aid, not a cure all- the others - would they even use it .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

i'm inclined to agree with alot of the above....

....linking cars together may only serve to make any conflict more personal in nature.


i'm sure you can find research around on inter-car telemetry & roadside to car systems.

on a simple level having all the cars in 10-50m range in communication could build a map of hazards for the driver.... say each car transmits its location, speed, indicator status, temperature, deceleration.. (etc etc, llocation in lane for more advanced systems)

when reconstructed in the car it can alert the driver to sudden braking a few cars ahead .. making it easier to anticipate traffic slowing or changing lanes... and actively alert the driver to an indicator going on nearby rather than relying on him spotting it...

if all vehicles were fitted then it could do blind spot detection, headway warnings and advise when a gap large enough to safely move in to presents itself in an adjacent lane.

hmmmm

LOLOLO!!!!!!

An indicator going on???? Never!

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Pecunia Prius Equitas et Salus

http://www.network-on-wheels.de/vision.html

The above link maybe of interest as a Car2Car consortium is developing something along similar lines.

As for the points raised so far, some of interest, such as the blind spot/cyclist and motorbike warning.

But I am now realising the range of negative impacts each idea could have on road rage levels….. original method of thinking was along the lines of,

‘If the driver was in direct contact or communication with someone, then they would think twice before taking an abusive stance.’

Rather than feel protected in their ‘personal space’ within the car.

Back to the drawing board…..

I think you’re making the mistake of judging these drivers by your own standards (that’s a compliment BTW). Perhaps you need to talk to some self confessed road-ragers to get a better understanding of the issues?


Keep trying. You’ll find we’re all happy to help you (to help ourselves).

Mind you - you can never tell - i returned to college about 15 years ago and in the last year one group toyed with the idea of a rear proximity detecter for cars( now called parking sensor) ---were talked out of it as projects had to be done inside - bet they wish they had gone ahead now.

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

Our existing ststem is actually pretty good at communicating 'feelings' and other information.

A nod, raise hand, quick flash (of lights), gentle toot of horn, manic flashing & continued horn press along with various gestures reserved for one-handed deployment. These are all a bit 'safer' than remonstrating with everybody within earshot. Imagine at queing traffic the vox chatter with 100's of p'd off motorists.....or a road-rager purposfully staying within range of his victim to intimidate them. Even simple pre-recorded messages (factory presets - OK, somebody will hack them) "Thank You", "I'd like to pass please"etc. can be used to ill effect. Any automation that removes the direct human element isn't good at communicating and leads to all sorts of misunderstandings - SMS for example!

I hate to say it, but if somebody can't nod, raise their hand or courtesy flash there is no way they will communicate by other means unless motivated by selfish need. How often have you let somebody out of a junction or past a parked car and been ignored - disheartening at best.

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"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

Hey, the Internet has provided excellent opportunities for communicatiing with others. Just look at the polite exchanges on this and the C+ forums.

Babel Fish - Oh yes.

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Malcolm W.
The views expressed in this post are personal opinions and do not represent the views of Safespeed.

I read a lovely comment about the internet, can't remember who made it as I'd love to give them the credit due...

Priceless!!

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"Politicians are the same the world over... We build bridges where there aren't any rivers." - Nikita Kruschev

How about flashing orange lights on the side of each car so that you can tell where they're going at junctions?

Or is that just too radical...?

[/quote]

How about flashing orange lights on the side of each car so that you can tell where they're going at junctions?

Or is that just too radical...? [/quote]

Think you might be on to something there, but how do you make sure people actually use them?

How about sensors in the road that detect vehicles approaching the turn, and (somehow) detect whether indicators are used. If they aren't and the vehicle makes the turn, two little robot arms come out of the car roof.

The first one takes the driver's baseball cap off.

The second twats them round the head.



I can dream, can't I. I follow two chavs in an ancient Mondeo up some lanes occasionally, and they go through several turns without indicating. The sight of a little robot arm battering the driver round the head repeatedly would make my morning.

With all the points raised so far, and what seems to be needed is technology built into the car such as RADAR and/or wireless connectivity, means that while of interest it wont for fill the criteria of my course which is to make a product...

…So with that I am now looking at maybe a method of connecting the drivers PC to there car, through the car key. Possible use of USB within the key making this possible with a majority of PC used, in which they could store music, information regarding SatNav or personal driver settings such as seat and steering wheel positions etc.

It could be argued this could save time and distractions while driving with finding CD’s or adjusting seat position to make more suitable. But again, have only just started looking into it.

So just saying thanks for all the responses so far, and if you have any thoughts to this idea feel free to make a point.