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The Future of Driving: Smart Technology to Keep You Safe on the Road

The future of cars might be self-driving, but until it becomes ubiquitous, we still need technology to help us stay safe on the road. In fact, the U.S. has seen a 14% rise in fatalities in recent years and many experts blame smartphones and other tech-related distractions for the rise in motor vehicle-related deaths.

This phenomenon has created a race to develop technology that can help drivers who experience lapses in attention. These features can also be set up to intervene or alert drivers to a potentially dangerous situation.

How Technology Can Help Ensure Safe Driving

According to Consumer Report’s road-test evaluations, the following technologies can help drivers avoid a potential crash:

Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB)

Systems that can sense a potential collision when the driver doesn’t react on time can go a long way to negate rear-end collisions.

If the system senses a potential collision and the driver doesn’t react in time, it immediately engages the brakes. According to the Advanced Auto Safety Systems survey, 69% of vehicle owners stated that they were highly satisfied with AEB in their automobiles.

Forward-Collision Warning (FCW)

FWC is all about providing an audible, visual, or tactile alert to rapidly warn drivers of a potential accident with another vehicle. According to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), FCW is directly related to a 27% reduction in rear-end crashes.

While 68% of the owners surveyed stated that they were very satisfied with FCW, IIHS data also showed that AEB and FCW are directly related to a 50% reduction in rear-end collisions for vehicles with both features.

Lane-Departure Warning (LDW)

LDW systems warn drivers when the vehicle starts crossing a lane marking when the turn signal isn’t engaged. According to IIHS, if vehicles in the U.S. were equipped with LDW systems, almost 85,000 crashes and more than 55,000 injuries could have been prevented in 2015.

Approximately 70% of vehicle owners surveyed were highly satisfied with their LDW system.

Lane-Keeping Assist (LKA)

LKA, on the other hand, helps correct the vehicle with some automatic steering and/or breaking if the vehicle starts drifting out of the lane. However, there isn’t any data at present to prove its potential benefits.

Consumer Reports found that about 70% of vehicle owners surveyed were highly satisfied with the LKA system in their vehicle.

Technology Can Ensure Compliance with Commercial Trucking

At Intersog, we had an opportunity to help a German multinational engineering and electronics company and one of the world's largest suppliers of automotive components develop an IoT application to collect data to help ensure compliance.

Our solution was an Android programmed prototype that collected user feedback for analysis by leveraging CAN Dongle, J1939 standard, with a Bluetooth communication layer. The app essentially collected all driver data and shared it in batches, every midnight.

This enabled our client to access the real value by enabling the trucking industry to use a low maintenance event capture solution that ensured compliance by logging all trucking driver activity while on duty.

Whether it’s is in the private or commercial space, technology will become a key differentiator in the automobile market. As a result, smart technology in automobiles will go through a period of significant acceleration in the years to come.

To get a better idea of what the future holds, try out the Super Cruise feature in the Cadillac CT6. Drivers have found it to be much more than traditional cruise control because the car is in full control.

This is a huge step for autonomous driving and it has enough safety features to keep you safe on the road.

Are you looking for a smart car application development partner like Intersog for your next project? Get in touch with one of our in-house experts now!

IT Storyteller and Copywriter
Andrew's current undertaking is big data analytics and AI as well as digital design and branding. He is a contributor to various publications with the focus on emerging technology and digital marketing.
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