Taking stock of car technology that protects cyclists and pedestrians

    In all traffic accidents involving motor vehicles and pedestrians or bicycles, pedestrians and bicycles, as vulnerable groups, tend to suffer greater harm, while "iron-clad people" motor vehicles are often safer. Therefore, methods to improve the safety of pedestrians and bicycles require not only the attention of motor vehicle drivers or pedestrians themselves, but also the joint efforts of automobile manufacturers or technology manufacturers.

    Fortunately, some manufacturers and teams have begun research and development in related fields. Some safety features are reflected in cars, while some safety measures are directly applied to pedestrians or bicycles. Let us take a look at products or technologies that can make pedestrians or bicycles safer in front of cars.

Car external airbag

    When a car is involved in a serious collision, the airbag inside will pop out to protect the passengers. But if it hits a pedestrian outside, there seems to be no such safety measure. However, Google approved a new self-driving car airbag patent this year. This patent involves an external airbag and shock absorption system for the car, which is designed to "protect pedestrians when they collide with vehicles."

    According to the patent documents, this airbag will be installed on the outside of the vehicle and will automatically pop out when the vehicle "feels" it is about to collide with an object. The so-called "viscoelastic material" mentioned by Google in the patent documents may be a material with "a consistency between earplugs and memory foam."

    In addition, Google is not the only company developing external airbags. Swedish car manufacturer Volvo is also trying external airbags. Volvo's pedestrian airbag technology can effectively reduce the damage to the front of the vehicle and the back of pedestrians. The technical principle is that the rear of the engine hood will automatically lift up after a collision with a pedestrian, and the airbag hidden inside will be released at the same time, and will wrap part of the front windshield and A-pillars. In this way, the raised engine hood and airbag can help reduce the damage to pedestrians.

Volvo pedestrian protection safety system

    Volvo is indeed at the forefront of the world in terms of safety. Recently, Volvo has continued to expand the existing pedestrian protection system with a new safety technology called "Pedestrian and Cyclist Detection System". This technology consists of three main parts: a radar installed on the grille, a camera installed in front of the rearview mirror, and a central control unit. The radar's task is to detect objects in front and determine the distance between them, while the camera's task is to confirm the type of object detected. Due to the wide field of view of the dual-mode radar, the system can detect pedestrians and cyclists in advance, while high-resolution cameras ensure that the system can recognize the movement of pedestrians and cyclists, while the central control unit continuously monitors and evaluates traffic conditions.

Electric vehicle pedestrian safety warning system

    According to statistics, the probability of electric vehicles and pedestrians getting into traffic accidents is twice as high as that of traditional vehicles when pedestrians are moving at low speeds. A research result of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the United States has led car companies to develop electric vehicle pedestrian warning systems, which aim to make electric vehicles emit low-decibel noise to remind pedestrians to pay attention to safety.

    The project is called the Electric Vehicle Detection and Emergency Alert System, and is jointly developed by Peugeot, Citroen, Renault and Nissan. The system will use a camera mounted on the windshield to identify pedestrians, cyclists and other road users. When the camera detects a pedestrian approaching, the six-speaker speaker will emit a directional beam sound, and the noise it produces is only 5 decibels, which is lower than the noise produced by a traditional gasoline engine vehicle.

    Nissan has already used this technology on its Leaf electric vehicles, which can issue "effective and targeted" warning sounds to pedestrians while also minimizing noise pollution.

Jaguar Land Rover Bicycle Detection System

    Jaguar Land Rover has introduced a safety system called "Bike Sense" that uses sensors to monitor all areas around the car and distinguish between cyclists and motorcyclists. When their presence is detected, the system uses light, sound and tactile feedback in different areas of the car to let the driver know their location.

    Bike Sense can instruct the car's audio system to play the sound of a bicycle bell or motorcycle horn to let the driver know where the cyclist is. The use of this universal sound allows the driver's brain to immediately recognize the current situation without having to process what the sound represents.

    If a bike tries to overtake, the system uses haptic feedback to "tap" the driver's shoulder to remind them to look to one side of the car. Then, the LED light matrix illuminates the corresponding part of the car with yellow and red light to indicate the bike's crossing. Even when the driver stops, Bike Sense continues to work in case anything rushes over. In addition to light and sound reminders, it can also make the door handles vibrate and sound warnings.

Ford's smart bike can detect the road ahead and vehicles behind it

    Ford's latest generation of Mode:Flex smart bikes, in addition to various convenient smart features, also have a protection function for the rider itself. This protection function can only be realized after connecting to the smartphone App.

    The accompanying app is called Mode:Link, which allows users to obtain real-time information about the road ahead. When encountering dangerous situations ahead, the vehicle will also send vibration warning information to the rider through the smart watch to detect whether the road is flat. When encountering serious potholes ahead, the rider will be reminded to avoid danger through vibration on the wrist. It has a blind spot monitoring system similar to that of vehicles, and intelligently reminds the vehicle coming from the side and rear.

    In addition, the app can also display real-time information such as weather, traffic jams, parking fees, time, traffic and public transportation, as well as eyes-free navigation, route planning, and health and fitness information.

Smart bicycle helmet

    For most night cycling enthusiasts, although night cycling is very pleasant, there are also certain safety risks. The most serious of these is that drivers cannot judge the direction of night riders in the dark, and cannot even observe them. A smart bicycle helmet called "Lumos" can solve this problem. This helmet with built-in brake, steering and lighting indicators can greatly improve the safety index of cyclists riding at night.

    From the outside, Lumos is not much different from traditional bicycle helmets. However, it has built-in indicator light strips that can clearly show the rider's various riding intentions in the dark. The front of the Lumos helmet is equipped with a white light to illuminate the road ahead for night riders. In addition to the red turn signal and brake light, the rear side is also equipped with a yellow warning light.

    As a smart helmet, Lumos can activate the built-in light through a wireless remote control on the bicycle handlebars. However, Lumos also has a built-in speed sensor, and when it detects that the speed of the vehicle slows down, the brake light on the back of the helmet will automatically light up.

    In addition to the most direct way of using LED indicators, there are also more technological helmet products. This time it comes from Volvo, which has worked with sports equipment manufacturer POC and Ericsson to develop a safety helmet prototype that can exchange information with sensors in surrounding cars.

    The sensors in the helmet and the car can send and receive safety signals to each other, so that the driver and the cyclist can know that the other is approaching. If a collision is about to happen, the safety system and the helmet in the car will transmit this data to the cloud and warn both parties in time. At this time, the driver will be able to see the warning information on the head-up display in the car, and at the same time the indicator light on the helmet will light up to remind the cyclist.