Featured TSS-P cuts accidents in half

(oncoming) Speed modulated brake light http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NUNDVCI?psc=1
Acme Remote Anchor https://i.pinimg.com/736x/1b/b0/26/1bb026c2712ac47f5707cae9831709fe--coyotes-foodie.jpg

 

I guess I was thinking an intentional roll forward, but that might be into traffic, another can of worms.

That's what I did one time, with a Harley fish tailing towards us.

 

Thanks for that, interesting. I'd think even worst scenario, if they do hit you, if you're brakes off and slightly rolling, it'll end a lot better for both parties.

 

Situation when I totalled my last car. Traffic stopped on the highway. I hit my brakes in time to stop. Car behind me did not. It pushed me into the monstrosity class SUV in front of me, which had huge tires and a bumper higher than mine. 10 year old Lexus GS I guess are expensive to repair, and have high salvage value. Bumper ate into my hood and radiator (front bumper, radiator, hood damaged) which cost more to fix than insurance thought versus buying and salvaging. Still no injuries, and I'm thankful for that. I was so sad to see my car go, but bought the prius after. Now if the car behind me had good brakes and auto braking - or the SUV in front had a bumper that was not raised above car bumpers - it would have been a cheap accident.

 

There was the car that slid into me as I was stopped to make a turn. Scary feeling to hear his tires sliding on the ice.

Then the young girl that hit me when I was stopped at a stop light. I was the 6th car in the line. Just come off a stretch of 55MPH. Panel truck behind me swerved just in time to run alongside the traffic in the ditch as it passed me but it was so tall the gal behind the truck didn't see the stop light and she hit me.

And the time I was the meat in the sandwich. Never figured out why that one happened but again stopped at a light and immediately got out and asked the guy in the front car "Did you hear the crash before I hit you". He did.

Now my front end crashes....rain just started on a sharp curve and the car dealer who had sold me the car swapped the tires and I didn't realize when I picked the car up at night. Or the time I slid into a truck on the black ice I didn't know was there. I had braked for 100 feet at least and only about 35 MPH when I applied them.

So I see being helped sometimes but only when enough cars and trucks on the road have the feature will it affect statistics like the thread title.

 

The only way to know is to have lots of accident data and analyze it. When there isn't a serious injury or death I doubt that they spend as much time on the reports. I don't think that all the accidents one person sees or is involved with makes for an accurate view of what the entire data set looks like.

The stats I've seen by the self-driving car analysts say that 90 - 94% of accidents are due to human error.

Mike

 

I suppose the insurance companies will have the statistics and arrange to make money from any benefits.

 

Set all lasers on stun!

 

Um, i would not actually mount a rear-facing laser due to causing eye damage, but quite seriously there may be a way to do this. Have you followed an emergency vehicle and seen those extremely bright LED arrays that are mounted in the back to supplement the normal brake lights? I mean the LEDs that are so bright that you cannot actually look at them directly without visually wincing. I think one of those arrays would be a just dandy extra high-mounted third brake light, and might help cut through the fog of mental inattentiveness and counteract the wandering eye focus that many folks today seem to drive with. Not sure those are available to the public, though, as I have not yet found them on Amazon.

 

Hey Mike, would you have a link to those stats?
Agree that careful analysis of accidents AND avoided accidents is necessary but not typically done, partly due to lack of $$$.. That's why I was so happy to find the Japanese transportation agency and Toyota had apparently cooperated somehow to get that rear-collision data for the Prii in Japan.
Also agree on human error, which is also true in aviation. But in aviation the accident analysis is thorough and will result in concrete proposals for equipment , procedure, or changes in pilot training. Changes in driver training programs do not even seem to be considered as a possibility in the US, which just astonishes me. Here in Virginia, the youngsters don't even have to take driver's education any more---the youngster just drives with their parents and learns all of their accumulated bad habits, and then the parents sign a form saying that they have driven100 hours or so with the youngster, and then the youngster is let loose on the streets! So I am not surprised to every day see cars wandering out of their lanes, failing to use turn signals, ignoring stop signs, tailgating, etc. If that laizzez faire approach to training were applied in aviation, you would have carnage in the skies, and as it is we have we have so much carnage on our streets that automobile accidents are not even newsworthy. Oh, wow, this surely sounds like a crotchety old man, doesn't it---pardon me while I go yell at some kids playing on my sidewalk!

 

Great idea, as the current third eye brake light seems eminently ignorable nowadays, especially for Prius drivers. </s>

 

I was considering wiring up a solid string of red LEDs across the entire trailing edge of the rear spoiler, hoping to compensate for not having super-bright LEDs by having a lot of them and thus a larger visual angle of the LED display and higher total luminance than the stock light. Might be tricky blending the surfaces so that the aerodynamics of the spoiler are not disturbed. Another potential problem is if the ECU monitors current draw of the brake lights and will throw an error code if too much current is drawn. Has anybody done this?

 

The motorcycles I have seen that have the "four rapid flash and then steady brake light" systems are in fact more noticeable on that flashing part of the braking cycle. The system you referenced is more graduated for different G-forces due to braking, but I haven't seen that type of system on the street yet. Have any Prius owners installed these systems?

 

I am not sure, I too know of them from Motorcycles. My goal was to have flash speed be based on the rate of change between the speed of the two cars, as he brakes to your speed, it quits being panicky. (if I stop in my lane due to road construction, etc. I run my 4 way flashers until at least one car is stopped behind me)

 

Actually, Menards (DIY stores, mainly in the Midwest US) used to have battery powered LED mini Xmas light strands for under $5 each. I was considering putting a strand or two of white LEDs in the rear window of my 2G so it would be less "invisible"

(If I did this, I suppose I should play Tejano music more often?)

 

Here are two links...but do a search and you can easily find many more.

Human error as a cause of vehicle crashes | Center for Internet and Society

New Data Shows 94 Percent of Car Accidents Caused by Human Error


Mike

 

Amen ("Brother") you hit the nail on the "HEAD"!!!!!

 

Forward collision mitigation I am all for it. I bought my 2012 Prius Plugin Base Model used & from what I have read it was only available in the Advanced Model? Next question is how do you determine whether it is installed on a vehicle or not. Used car dealers always are claiming that a Base model is an Advanced Model.

 

After having read about the MIT study with the algorithm finding that leaving space before and after vehicles prevents traffic jams, I'm excited about the Toyota Research Institute sponsoring further research into combination forward & rear DRCC/collision detection.

Although I won't have it on my 2016 Gen 4, I suspect it will be on my next vehicle, whatever that may be.

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