We obviously have a range of opinion on the board relative to individual rights, behavior and responsibilities vs. the “public good.”
Alcohol is bad for society when it is abused, but if you’re a drinker you excuse that and concentrate on personal responsibility. Similarly, drugs are bad and should be illegal, but don’t you dare consider banning my drug of choice -- alcohol or tobacco.
Or
Guns are bad, and your rights as a responsible, legal gun owner must be infringed for the common good, especially since I am not personally a gun owner and have no interest in that.
Or
SUVs should be banned because they contribute to global warming, help sponsor ME terrorist activities and threaten the lives of people driving sensible small cars, such as myself.
In a perfect world such things would be considered in an unemotional, fair and neutral manner. However, “You rights end where my feelings begin…” is too often the case. Not to mention that such issues are easily spun by special interest groups and politicians, often with little basis in factuality. Also, at some point, is a riskless society worth living in? At what point do risks that you personally accept suddenly become someone else’s business?
Skydiving? Extreme Sports? Any physical sport? Smoking? Drinking? Firearm Ownership? Motorcycles? The Internet? Media messages? Socializing with loose women?
To name but a very few…
On that note, one area currently being pushed is the perfectly safe (or as close as you can get) driving experience. The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is on to this (a variety of technology-specific quotes offered below from:
http://www.euractiv.com/en/transport/eu-misses-road-safety-target-promotes-hi-tech-cars/article-152866 ), but the real action and traction is currently going on in the EU.
In 2003, the European Commission set a goal of decreasing the number of deaths on European roads by 50 per cent by 2010. Support for the European Commission’s initiative was expressed by Mr. Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, Mr. Ari Vatanen, Member of the European Parliament, Ms Loyola de Palacio, Vice-President of the European Commission and Mr. Michael Schumacher, a Formula 1 rally driver. [from an ESSO support statement]
Much of this is based on Sweden’s Vision Zero: "The Vision Zero initiative is built on a conceptual approach developed in the mid- 1990’s by public health researchers in Sweden looking for more effective methods to reduce seemingly intractable fatalities from road traffic accidents. The approach is based on a belief that while errors in a complex system are unavoidable, it is possible to alleviate the consequences of error and that “safety… is based on a refusal to accept human deaths or lifelong suffering as a result of road traffic.”
“As a result of the work of Prof. Tingvall and others, Europe’s road safety community now agrees that the basis for Vision Zero is first and foremost a distinct ethical approach: no one should be killed or injured for life in road traffic.”
Member states have pledged to cut annual road deaths by 50% between 2001 and 2010. The mid-term review of the 3rd road safety action programme, which was released by the European Commission at the beginning of this year, revealed that traffic deaths in the EU have dropped by 17-18%. With less than four years to go, the chances of the EU achieving its target are slim. In the meantime, there are still too many deaths and injuries on European roads that could be avoided if all countries implemented some of the most crucial and well-known measures.
European Transport Safety Council Executive Director Jörg Beckmann (http://www.euractiv.com/en/transport/road-safety-ngo-eu-reduce-road-accidents/article-158057 )
Some of this involves improvements to roads, some facilitates quicker response to accidents, some a safer automobile structure and the UK version of Vision Zero would involve a 20mph speed limit in all urban areas. However, the most cost effective “some” involves changing the automobile to make it driver proof.
Speedlimits -- let the car take care of that for you.
"Illegal and inappropriate speed is the single biggest contributory factor in fatal road crashes. It increases both the risk of a crash and the severity of resulting injuries. Managing speed is therefore the most important measure to reduce death and injury on our roads. And ISA is a robust, simple and reliable technology to achieve this objective."
Jörg Beckmann
Seatbelts or a cocktail after work?
We have estimated that by increasing the safety belt use to 90 percent, and devising countermeasures to address the alcohol related safety problems—with those two approaches alone, we could save over 9,000 lives a year. And there is no reason why vehicle based solutions for increasing belt use and preventing alcohol related crashes could not be found to supplement other efforts to curb this epidemic.
NHTSA
Like to ride a motorcycle?
Motorcyclists appear to be most at risk, with deaths rising between 2000 and 2003 when elsewhere, the total number of road deaths was falling. Tackling the safety of motorcyclists is now "a matter of urgency," the Commission said.
Jörg Beckmann
Just how do you make a motorcycle safe? Add two wheels and an external shell full of airbags would be my guess.
Like to drive a truck or SUV?
As you can see here, some of these larger vehicles are more likely to be involved in rollover crashes as well. Compare the rollover fatalities that are occurring in passenger cars with SUV’s, pickup’s and vans. Note that they are two to three times in pickups, vans and SUV’s in comparison to cars.
NHTSA
What about actually driving the vehicle?
The answer to this question lies in what would be the acceptable level of vehicle control the society is willing to accept. So far we have been delicately approaching crash prevention methods as I stated before.
That may not be sufficient. We need a more aggressive approach. While our current methods of warning and delicate vehicle control might be sufficient when conditions are not anywhere near the limit, under limit conditions, we may have to move towards some control by the vehicle.
Many drivers may find this unacceptable. However, as we gradually move into stability control, traction control, adaptive cruise control and other technologies, the public will slowly get used to it, and a time will come when more and more drivers will be willing to give up occasional control when the situation warrants it.
But this is not going to occur fast. And our efforts must be geared to make this happen as early as possible. Our approach in research for developing technologies must move from “driver-in-the loop” towards, occasional, “driver-out-of-the-loop” when necessary.
Should a driver be found lacking in his capacity for safe driving, the vehicle must be able to sense that and make adjustments in vehicle response behavior such as speed, handling, and suspension response in the pre-crash mode.
A vehicle that senses an impending crash, looking at the driver to sense his capacity in taking evasive actions, and examining the traffic environment, should be able to determine whether that crash can be avoided.
NHTSA
The future?
In conclusion, the gist of my presentation is that technologies can solve the safety problems, provided every subsystem is in constant communication with each other, the driver and the environment. As a society we must learn how to relinquish vehicle control, when we reach a stage of maturity in technology development to trust the vehicle’s judgment.
NHTSA
This stuff is moving ahead too. Last year I changed jobs and I'm now the editor at a magazine focused on advanced imaging technologies. I went to a conference in Finland recently where the European automakers were desperately trying to find imaging solutions that might make driving safer without having to rely on a future generation of marshmallow bubblecars with small engines and limited driver control and speed limits far below those found today in many areas.
So, many of us like driving. We like driving dangerous things in some cases. Should we give up our open road freedom for the common good?
Charon
