Safety: how to provide more protection for pedestrians

The most vulnerable road users are pedestrians . In order to improve their protection , Car manufacturers have developed many safety systems , Various new technologies applied inside and outside the vehicle are maturing .

Generally speaking , Cyclists at least wear helmets , But in the event of a traffic accident , Unsuspecting pedestrians are actually completely unprotected . And the amount of bleeding when they were injured was also very high . In Germany, , only 2020 The number of pedestrian deaths in road traffic accidents in 376 people . In the total number of deaths 2724 people , There are obviously too many pedestrians .

The good news is , These figures are falling .40 Years ago , The death toll of pedestrians is about 2020 Year of 10 times . Lawmakers and the auto industry have long recognized , They must better protect the most vulnerable road users .

Continuous efforts for many years

The minimum requirement of the crash test is not only to protect the passengers in the car , And protect other road users . Steel shiny chrome plated parts or aluminum solid decorative strips in the radiator grille are the cruelest weapons in traffic accidents , Therefore, it is no longer used . these years , The car manufacturer has specially optimized the front of the car body in terms of pedestrian protection . Not only the sharp front edge of the hood is eliminated , And many improvements have been made in sheet metal . Lock the hood 、 Small changes have been made to the windshield wiper linkage, etc , Or lower the rigid unit under the engine cover , These measures will help reduce the injury to pedestrians in the event of a car crash .

Although all car manufacturers have adopted safety measures to protect pedestrians , But the measures adopted are different , just as Euro NCAP The crash test shows . Especially the active system , E.g. pop up hood （2005 It was first installed on Jaguar models in ） Or external airbag （ Volvo in 2012 Launched in 2013 ） It has not been widely used .

Similar to the principle of airbag, the pop-up air cushion helps protect pedestrians . Because some areas in the front of the vehicle cannot really absorb the energy generated by the impact , for example A column . however , They can support the roof , Prevent the sunken roof from hurting the head of passengers in the car when crashing or overturning , and A The column should not be too wide , Because it will affect the driver's driving vision . The safety air cushion can be designed to cover A column , This can play a better protective role , But some experts believe that airbags are not essential . If the accident victim hit his head on the asphalt pavement in the so-called second impact , Will also suffer serious injury , Is it really useful to install safety air cushion ？

obviously , If we want to further reduce the number of traffic accidents , Consideration must be given to the collision of pedestrians with cars and roads , To achieve the best possible protection . Taking active protective measures is the means to achieve the goal , Now it has become part of the standard configuration of automobile manufacturers , For example, brake assist system .

The use of brake assist system was originally designed to avoid accidents between cars and other vehicles , Now they can automatically identify cyclists and pedestrians , Give a brake warning to the driver . Although the braking distance is not always enough to completely avoid accidents , But in the event of a collision, it can still reduce the damage caused by the collision as much as possible .2012 year , Volvo became the first car manufacturer to use this system , At present, the system has been greatly improved , Collision can also be avoided when reversing .

More intelligent protection measures

In the field of active safety systems , A series of other protective measures can also be taken , For example, in light . Audi and Mercedes - Mercedes Benz in smart LED Leading position in headlights , It can accurately identify obstacles and illuminate them , Draw the driver's attention to the pedestrians on the roadside . This technology is very intelligent , It can illuminate pedestrians' bodies instead of their heads , Avoid dazzling pedestrians .

however , The function of night vision function of human or animal can be displayed on the display in the cockpit is limited , Because the driver must look away from the road to recognize the dangerous situation . Self driving vehicles can use light signals to indicate that they have recognized pedestrians on the roadside .

People carry pulse transponders in backpacks or pass Car-to-X（ That is, by radio ） The technology of communication with infrastructure is still in the pre development stage . They can attract the attention of cars , Although they may be hidden in a corner of the house or behind another car .

However , This kind of pulse transponder may not be necessary at all , because , Intelligent cameras and sensors at intersections can recognize pedestrians and their moving direction , And transmit the information of these scenes to nearby vehicles in real time .

Although this technology is a little reminiscent of George · Orwell's Novels 《1984》 Comprehensive monitoring in , But it has great potential in reducing pedestrian accidents in the future .