In-Car Electronic System Warns Drivers They're Speeding
06-14-2006, 11:54 AM
#1
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In-Car Electronic System Warns Drivers They're Speeding
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
By Robert Roy Britt
An Australian company has developed a system that lets drivers know when they're speeding. When the technology becomes commercially available, it could help lead-footed drivers avoid tickets and also save lives.
It could even be used by parents to monitor teen driving.
The product, called SpeedAlert, links real-time location data and speed obtained with the help of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to a database of posted speed limits stored in a driver's personal digital assistant (PDA) or programmable mobile phone.
Smart Car Technologies, a Sydney-based company that developed the product, hopes to convince Australian government agencies to deploy the technology in their automobile fleets. The product will soon go on sale in Sydney.
How it works
The setup does not need to be hooked up to a car's speedometer. In fact, it is entirely portable.
A GPS receiver placed on the dashboard communicates with the PDA via a Bluetooth wireless connection. It will also work with newer phones and PDAs that have built-in GPS receivers.
If a driver exceeds the speed limit, the speed is shown on the PDA and an alert sounds if the driver doesn't slow down.
A voice lets you know if you're approaching a school zone, and the screen displays the current speed limit based on whether school is in session.
"It's a clever idea," said Ian Macfarlane, minister for industry, tourism and resources in the Australian federal government, which helped fund research into the product.
The company hired Michael Paine, an Australian vehicle design engineer and traffic-safety consultant, to do an independent analysis of the product.
Paine told LiveScience that his colleagues in the road safety field are "very enthusiastic" about what they're now calling "intelligent speed alert."
Other research, according to Paine, shows that 40 percent of all traffic fatalities involve speeding.
There is also a potentially controversial future use.
"Since the system is so portable, it would be easy to make it a requirement for teenage drivers to always use a speed-alert device when driving," Paine said. "The system even has the capability to record speeding violations so parents can monitor their teenage drivers."
Saving lives
Developing speed alert systems is high on the agenda of European governments, which cooperate on overall intelligent transportation systems (ITS) strategies.
The European Commission supports a separate project, also called SpeedAlert, whose Web site states: "In-vehicle speed information and warning systems can significantly contribute to road safety."
Paine said ITS planning in the United States seems to lack a speed-alert strategy.
Each year, more than 40,000 Americans are killed, and nearly 3 million injured, in some 6.3 million traffic accidents.
The odds of dying in a traffic accident are about 1 in 100 for a U.S. resident. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for those aged 2 through 33.
"[In the] United States, almost half of all fatalities to seat-belt wearing drivers occur at impact speeds of 30 mph or less," Paine said. "Traveling at just 3 mph over the posted speed limit can double the risk of a fatal crash."
Paine figures that, as a conservative estimate, some 10 percent of U.S. auto fatalities would be avoided if 20 percent of cars had intelligent speed alert.
"Fatalities would drop by more than 30 percent if everyone stuck to the posted speed limits," he said.
LINK
By Robert Roy Britt
An Australian company has developed a system that lets drivers know when they're speeding. When the technology becomes commercially available, it could help lead-footed drivers avoid tickets and also save lives.
It could even be used by parents to monitor teen driving.
The product, called SpeedAlert, links real-time location data and speed obtained with the help of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to a database of posted speed limits stored in a driver's personal digital assistant (PDA) or programmable mobile phone.
Smart Car Technologies, a Sydney-based company that developed the product, hopes to convince Australian government agencies to deploy the technology in their automobile fleets. The product will soon go on sale in Sydney.
How it works
The setup does not need to be hooked up to a car's speedometer. In fact, it is entirely portable.
A GPS receiver placed on the dashboard communicates with the PDA via a Bluetooth wireless connection. It will also work with newer phones and PDAs that have built-in GPS receivers.
If a driver exceeds the speed limit, the speed is shown on the PDA and an alert sounds if the driver doesn't slow down.
A voice lets you know if you're approaching a school zone, and the screen displays the current speed limit based on whether school is in session.
"It's a clever idea," said Ian Macfarlane, minister for industry, tourism and resources in the Australian federal government, which helped fund research into the product.
The company hired Michael Paine, an Australian vehicle design engineer and traffic-safety consultant, to do an independent analysis of the product.
Paine told LiveScience that his colleagues in the road safety field are "very enthusiastic" about what they're now calling "intelligent speed alert."
Other research, according to Paine, shows that 40 percent of all traffic fatalities involve speeding.
There is also a potentially controversial future use.
"Since the system is so portable, it would be easy to make it a requirement for teenage drivers to always use a speed-alert device when driving," Paine said. "The system even has the capability to record speeding violations so parents can monitor their teenage drivers."
Saving lives
Developing speed alert systems is high on the agenda of European governments, which cooperate on overall intelligent transportation systems (ITS) strategies.
The European Commission supports a separate project, also called SpeedAlert, whose Web site states: "In-vehicle speed information and warning systems can significantly contribute to road safety."
Paine said ITS planning in the United States seems to lack a speed-alert strategy.
Each year, more than 40,000 Americans are killed, and nearly 3 million injured, in some 6.3 million traffic accidents.
The odds of dying in a traffic accident are about 1 in 100 for a U.S. resident. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for those aged 2 through 33.
"[In the] United States, almost half of all fatalities to seat-belt wearing drivers occur at impact speeds of 30 mph or less," Paine said. "Traveling at just 3 mph over the posted speed limit can double the risk of a fatal crash."
Paine figures that, as a conservative estimate, some 10 percent of U.S. auto fatalities would be avoided if 20 percent of cars had intelligent speed alert.
"Fatalities would drop by more than 30 percent if everyone stuck to the posted speed limits," he said.
LINK
06-14-2006, 12:50 PM
#4
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Originally Posted by LuvMyTSX
That would be soooo annoying. Dude, I know when I'm speeding, I do it on purpose most of the time!
Besides, I have a biological system that warns me of my speeding: My Wife. 
06-14-2006, 12:55 PM
#5
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Originally Posted by F23A4
Besides, I have a biological system that warns me of my speeding: My Wife. 
06-14-2006, 01:19 PM
#7
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Originally Posted by danny25
The Audi Q7 warns you when you're over by a certain number.
My car also does that but you have to set it up to what speed you want it to beep i you pass it.
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06-14-2006, 01:40 PM
#8
Old technology - My freind has an old Buick Syklark - 65 or 69 or something. The speedo can be set to soung off the most annoying buzzer you have ever heard if you are speeding.
Not a bad idea if you're a chronic speeder who finds himself getting a lot of speeding tickets. And if you don't want one, you don't have to have one. Or, you could always turn it off when you don't need it.
06-14-2006, 08:34 PM
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Originally Posted by danny25
The Audi Q7 warns you when you're over by a certain number.
Not sure about Audi's but all BMWs with trip computers going back to at least the early 90s let you set a speed and it will beep when you exceed it.
Although the thread gadget is not something I would spend any real money on it would be nice if Nav systems displayed the speed limit for your current stretch of road, even better if it displayed in the speedometer binnacle. Would be helpful when travelling.
06-14-2006, 08:46 PM
#12
_____ like a rabbit
Originally Posted by danny25
The Audi Q7 warns you when you're over by a certain number.
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