Safety Sells
Smart Business, October 2001
by Thomas Claburn
When Calgon isn't an option, technology offers a quick escape for those doing time in traffic. A cell phone, for example, can turn gridlock into productive time. Companies like Q-PC and Go Office bring your office to you by putting a server in your trunk and a folding desk on your lap—just link to the world by Cellport. You can even be a couch potato in your bucket seat, thanks to Alpine's line of mobile TV tuners.
Of course, entertaining gadgets can also drive you to distraction. The recent flurry of legislation to ban handheld cell phones, reading, eating, typing, watching TV, and just about every other in-car diversion has convinced automakers that the lucrative business of loading up cars with toys depends on keeping wired drivers safe.
"Safety has become sexy all of a sudden," says Scott Memmer, technology editor at automotive site Edmunds.com.
Take Ford. In January, the carmaker introduced its $10 million driving simulator laboratory, VIRTTEX (Virtual Test Track Experiment), where researchers are studying "distraction issues related to new in-vehicle electronic devices."
David Wagner, safety technical specialist at Ford Research Laboratory, says, "We can put enough cameras and buzzers and bells inside a car to make sure that no driver ever looks at the road, but obviously that's not what we want to do from a safety perspective."
Nowhere is the marriage of technology and safety more fully consummated than at Volvo, recently acquired by Ford. In May, the Swedish carmaker showed off its Safety Concept Car. Among the innovations are four-point seat belts and an eye sensor that adjusts the seat, wheel, and pedals to improve visibility.
Also in development are ways to help keep drivers' hands on the wheel. Voice recognition technology—now listening for your commands in new Jaguars, thanks to Visteon—offers one option to end button hunting at high speeds.
But Memmer echoes Wagner's concern that even hands-free technology won't keep drivers focused on what's ahead as more attention-grabbing accessories hit the market. Better brace for impact.
