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Will coming innovations make drivers and pedestrians safer?

CNN recently took a look at how coming innovations might make driving safer, less stressful and more environment-friendly. Some of the innovations are already in place, some are in the pipeline, while others are in a more distant future.

Like most drivers, we look forward to technological breakthroughs that will reduce car accidents and help keep drivers, passengers, pedestrians and bicyclists safe.

CNN’s list of 10 innovations includes exterior airbags. They’re much like the interior inflatable airbags that already protect drivers and passengers.

However, a safety technology maker is developing airbags that would inflated on the outside of vehicles. They would be mounted below the doors and triggered by cameras and radar designed to detect imminent collisions. The bags would then inflate within 30 milliseconds to form a protective shield.

Impact force in a collision is reduced by up to 35 percent, tests have shown.

The below-door external airbag systems are “still in the concept phase,” but at least one auto manufacturer is interested in the feature.

Other external airbag concepts are in various stages of development, including one front-positioned external system offered already Volvo to protect pedestrians struck by cars.

Another safety feature in the works (maybe just a year or two from deployment): sensors to monitor drivers’ eye movements and other areas to detect if a person is distracted, drunk or too fatigued to drive, among other things.

You can read the article by following the link below.

For those pedestrians have been injured in an accident caused by a distracted or intoxicated driver, the concerns are more immediate: getting health care and then paying for that care. In many cases, the injury victims can, with the help of a personal injury attorney, hold the responsible party accountable for the damage they have done.

Source: CNN, “The CNN 10: Future of driving,” March 2014