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Nissan's Intelligent Transportation System adds pedestrian avoidance

by Darren Murph posted Apr 19th 2007 @ 7:50AM

Although Nissan's anti-drunk driving technology should keep the worst of the unaware from actually cruising down the freeway, certain distractions that we just wouldn't do without could indeed lead to a pedestrian-related crash. Thankfully for us, Nissan is on the lookout, as its Intelligent Transportation System is now getting an additional feature before it's even released. Aside from helping you avoid congestion and emit less fumes, the ITS will now be able to communicate with handsets via 3G networks and GPS in order to alert drivers of upcoming individuals. Of course, we have to assume that only humans within a reasonable line of danger will appear on screen, but Nissan claims that this technology will decrease the amount of car vs. pedestrian mishaps and "reduce road accidents particularly in a blind-spot situation." The automaker is currently collaborating with NTT DoCoMo and researching "what types of pedestrian data are most relevant to help prevent accidents," but unfortunately, the launch date for all of this in-car madness is still a good ways out.

Unaware Driver + Traffic + BlackBerry = Accident waiting to happen

by Michael Caputo posted Dec 18th 2006 @ 4:29PM

We can imagine that almost everyone has been guilty of trying to balance their morning commute between a cellphone, traffic, and their favorite morning radio show. We know it's even more dangerous to drive with one knee, both hands on your BlackBerry, while you send your boss a message saying you are going to be late for the morning meeting. A Seattle man knows exactly what we are talking about as he caused a four car pile-up that involved 28 passengers on I-5 while playing around with his 'berry while in the express lanes. Thankfully, no one was hurt -- and let's face it, the guy could've picked worse places to do this.

Startup's tech warns chatty drivers of upcoming stoplights

by Evan Blass posted Apr 19th 2006 @ 4:35PM

Necessity is definitely the mother of invention, so after getting hit twice in one year by drivers gabbing on their cellphones (only once as a pedestrian, thankfully), an understandably-peeved Demetrius Thompson decided to develop a system for warning chatters that they're about to approach an intersection. Since it's pretty clear that in-car cellphone use will never be completely banned, and that the "hands-free only" laws really don't address the underlying problem, the next best step would seem to be improving the attentiveness of those who insist on talking behind the wheel. Thompson's system would use already-available location data from GPS-enabled cellphones combined with information on the coordinates of local traffic lights to audibly alert the driver with a cuckoo clock-like chirp when they need to perk up and pay (more) attention to the road. While this is certainly an innovative and cost-effective method for circumventing legislative routes to tackle what is likely a widespread problem, the fact that Thompson's company, Global Mobile Alert, has yet to get any carriers interested in the system means that it will likely remain just a concept for the foreseeable future.