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Pedestrian safety improvement

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by bwilson4web, May 3, 2009.

  1. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    One of the reasons I continue to oppose the "Bell the Hybrid" legislation is it takes attention off of effective system that can save lives and reduce pedestrian-car injuries. As I was looking over the "New Car Features" for the 2010 Prius, I found this in "2010-Prius-NCF-Ext-Body-Details.pdf":
    Unlike the noise makers advocated by the blind, this engineering approach addresses all Prius-pedestrian accidents by significantly reducing the injuries and risk of death.

    There are other potential pedestrian risk mitigations including the millimeter radar used for adaptive cruise control. Currently it runs whenever the car is moving and off when stopped. This could also be a beacon to alert the blind to a moving Prius.

    As I find these potential pedestrian risk reduction systems, I'll share them with our community. The reason is a wireless notification to pedestrians that builds upon existing Prius vehicle systems becomes a win-win. We, the Prius owners, gain advanced wireless features and the blind gain the notifications they want.

    Bob Wilson
     
    #1 bwilson4web, May 3, 2009
  2. jayman

    jayman Senior Member

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    Well, I'm generally all in favor of reducing pedestrian injuries in crashes. The sad fact is, if a person happens to quickly step out from a large parked vehicle, directly into the path of a car moving +60 km/h, the car is going to win

    Every time

    When I was younger, I remember cars that had bumpers that had actual shock absorbers built in. In a 5-10 mph tap, the bumper would compress against the shock absorber, then spring back out. Maybe a scratch at worst

    Now, with our aerodynamic and pretty bumpers, a tap at 3-6 mph can result in horribly expensive damage. The actual tap tests start at around 4 mins into the clip



    New pickups and suv's are the same, with remarkably flimsy bumpers. A neighbor of mine got a new Chevy Silverado last summer. This winter, he managed to slide into a dump truck at walking speed, doing around $1,400 in damage to the "bumper"

    My FJ is also typical. The front factory "bumper" is nothing but plastic stuff covering up a metal bar. A relatively low speed impact takes out the A/C condenser. I replaced mine with a Fab Fours bumpers front and rear

    We can design vehicles that will do a better job protecting pedestrians from injury. But these cars will then be almost written off in low speed crashes
     
    #2 jayman, May 3, 2009
  3. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Thanks Bob. I am fully with you. All cars could be inexpensively retrofitted or production equipt with a simple transmitter. New generation walking sticks for the blind would have a simple reciever that would either vibrate, make an audible alert, or both--just like current cell phones. Hell, they could be built into cell phones for that matter...anything that an individual would carry on their person.
     
    #3 efusco, May 3, 2009
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