Safety

The traffic sign assistance system currently offered in Mercedes-Benz’s S- and E-Class models uses a camera mounted on the inside of the front windscreen to identify speed restriction signs. This speed restriction information is relayed to the navigation system and displayed in the instrument cluster and in the map view to help prevent drivers exceeding the speed limit. Mercedes has now updated the system to also recognize no-overtaking zones and no-entry signs so as to prevent drivers from accidentally traveling in the wrong direction.  Read More

Just last month, we told you about the Kranium – a prototype bicycle helmet with a core made from cardboard instead of the usual expanded foam. Well, we obviously weren’t the only ones impressed by it. German security devices manufacturer Abus has picked up the design, resulting in the Kranium AKS 1 helmet now being available in the UK.  Read More

Toyota and its Lexus division took a step closer to the autonomous car as they unveiled their Advanced Active Safety Research Vehicle (AASRV) at a press conference in the run up to CES 2013 in Las Vegas. Based on a Lexus LS, the AASRV uses automated vehicle safety technologies to work toward the goal of eliminating "future traffic fatalities and injuries.”  Read More

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has released its list of safest vehicles for the 2013 model year. In all, the list includes 117 cars that were awarded a Top Safety Pick. Thirteen cars were given the Top Safety Pick+ award, which is an even higher award for vehicle safety. These vehicles go deeper to bring a safer ride to drivers and passengers, and we're going to take a quick look at each one.  Read More

Flight data recorders, commonly known as “black boxes,” have been a standard feature in airliners since the early 1960s. More recently, various companies have started offering apps and dedicated devices that essentially serve as black boxes for cars, keeping a record of the vehicle’s parameters and location when involved in an accident. Now, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing that similar devices become mandatory in all new light passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. by September 1st, 2014.  Read More

It might not win any beauty contests, but this electric vehicle developed by students at Hiroshima University would be my pick if I had the choice of which car I was going to be involved in an accident with. Instead of relying on interior airbags to cushion the driver during a collision, the iSAVE-SC1 is essentially a drivable cushion that should soften the blow for driver and pedestrian alike.  Read More

In the wake of last week’s horrific shootings in Connecticut, we’re sure to be seeing a lot more products like this cropping up. Made by Salt Lake City-based body armor company Amendment II, it’s called the Ballistic Backpack, and it’s designed to protect its wearer from bullets.  Read More

When it comes to riding in the city, you'd be forgiven for thinking that cyclists don a cloak of invisibility before entering a busy traffic stream. According to the latest figures from the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 618 cyclists were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes during 2010 and a further 52,000 suffered non-fatal injuries. While this loss of life only represents two percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities, it's still troublingly high. After reading about some well-publicized urban bike/truck battles where the commercial vehicle emerged a good deal better off than the rider, designer Tory Orzeck started to think of ways to give cyclists more presence on the road. The result of his labors is a handlebar-mounted, dual-tone, LED-packing smart bike horn called ORP.  Read More

Industrial robots have been around for the better part of the last sixty years, but until recently most took days to program and had to be cordoned off to prevent injuring their human coworkers. That's beginning to change thanks to smarter robots, like those developed by Universal Robots, a Danish company who's technology – already prevalent in Europe – has been hailed "the world's most innovative robot" by the International Federation of Robotics and the IEEE.  Read More