SINGAPORE: As millions of cars are under recall for potentially lethal air bags, designers are trying to reduce the need for the device — using sensors, radar, cameras and lasers to prevent collisions in the first place.
With driver error blamed for over 90% of road accidents, the thinking is it would be better to have them do less of the driving. The US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that forward-collision warning systems cut vehicle-to-vehicle crashes by 7% — not a quantum leap, but a potential life saver. Nearly 31,000 people died in car accidents in 2012 in the United States alone.