A more efficient means of communication is being sought to replace honks in auto and self-driving vehicles. It seems as if nearly every day, the number of self-driving and autonomous vehicles on the road grows by one. Self-driving cars need to be more friendly to pedestrians, cyclists, and other people on the road. This is true from small cars to big trucks.
Manufacturers of self-driving cars claim that their vehicles would reduce traffic congestion, reduce emissions, and improve overall safety and security in the transportation system. There is still a long way to go before the technology is fully embraced and used. People who drive self-driving and autonomous cars don’t have a perfect record of safety. They have had a lot of weird accidents.
Ford, VW, and Zoox say that lights, sounds, and patterns could soon be used instead of street horns. Also seeking a common ground are corporations such as Apple; BMW; General Motors; Mercedes-Benz; Uber; and Toyota. Every one of them has voluntarily reported their safety self-evaluations to the NHTSA.
According to the NHTSA, road safety is at a point where it’s in a “crisis.” The country is on its way to a record of 40,000 traffic deaths this year alone, which is a lot. It was the biggest six-month rise ever seen in the report for the first half of 2021. It took place in the first half of 2021 when 20,160 people died in car accidents. That’s 18.4% more than it did in 2020. “We can’t and shouldn’t accept these deaths as part of everyday life in America,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said. To get the number down, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) asked everyone to work together to do so.
A common language for cars to communicate with other people on the road was one of the goals Ford set for itself. In a presentation, the car manufacturer proposed installing a white light bar on top of the windshield. Pedestrians and bicyclists may see the bar from a distance. Also, the bar can follow moving humans and detect self-driving cars.
Similar 360-degree communication solutions are being tested by companies like Zoox. Every time a new car was made, it was made to be safer on the road. As far back as the 1920s, the simple flashing turn signal wasn’t even on the market. The cars were honking long before that. Automotive today thinks that roads could be safer if new, smarter, and more efficient ways of communicating were used instead, which would make them safer.