Every car manufacturer in the world is working on a self-drive vehicle, but is this the way of the future? How is it possible to have self-driven and human-driven cars on the same road at the same time in the "change-over" period? Auto-drive vehicles tend to be small, though there is no real need for this. It seems designers are trying to force us to accept tiny cars that get around on their own. Most elderly people use their cars to do the weekly shopping. with no boot/trunk this is impossible.
Accidents are caused by drivers not cars. It is human error, particularly not paying attention that is to blame. If human concentration can be improved there will be no need for auto-driven vehicles.
Researchers in Australia are working on a "headset" that monitors brain activity during driving. As brain activity changes when a driver is distracted the cars automatic braking system comes into action.
At the moment the headset is quite large - it has 14 sensors. This is only the beginning of the program though. Several different types of distraction were used: switching radio stations, using mobile phones, drinking water and reading maps.
Gaze rate, blink rate, blink duration and dwelling on a fixed point were also measured by the headset. A great deal of data is collected. This is not difficult to analyse with modern computers. Reducing accidents by making a car slow down then speed up again is paramount to lessen the 46 per cent of fatal accidents caused by inattention.
Technology by Ty Buchanan
