Technology Can Prevent Car Crashes, if Consumers Will Buy In
Imagine for a second a world in which no driver ever gets rear-ended. That may sound impossible, but it shouldn’t. For perspective on the blistering rate of technology’s advancements, remember that a few months ago mankind launched a probe from a satellite and it landed on a comet that was traveling at a whoping 84,000 mph.
Today it’s possible and relatively inexpensive for us to make cars and trucks that identify an imminent collision and automatically brake, preventing or lessening the severity of an accident.
Ragunathan Rajkumar, a professor at Carnegie Mellon who is developing self-driving car technology, says that for $700 or $800 the parts can be bought to build such a system. After markups, he estimates that consumers will pay an extra $2,000 or $3,000 for the initial cost of their vehicles. That up-front cost probably would pay off down the line through lower insurance premiums and greater safety.
To read more, please click on the link above.