Car manufacturers have been introducing new safety features to market their products and to create safer roadways. From seat belts to air bags, safety features help prevent injuries when a car is involved in a Miami car accident. However, the latest wave of safety features for cars is aimed not just at preventing injuries, but also at preventing accidents from occurring in the first place.
One of the latest of these features has exciting implications for possibly preventing Miami pedestrian accidents in the future. The new features include what are known as advanced safety vehicles (ASV) as well as specially-developed car bodies that reduce the impact when pedestrians are hit.
One system, the Eye Sight system, used in Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. cars, sounds a large alarm when the car approaches too closely to an object or a person. If the car continues to move forward, the device automatically applies the brakes slightly. If the driver still does not move to prevent a car accident, the car automatically brakes at a distance from the object. The system works in conjunction with a camera and sensors. When the car approaches any object too closely, the device automatically acts to prevent a collision. The device may be less sensitive in bad weather and may not work in cases where pedestrians jump in front of a car suddenly, however.
Some models of cars in Japan already have the system as of 2008 and an updated version of the Eye Sight system was released in 2010. The system was developed as part of a larger effort to develop ASV cars, an imitative supported by the then- Transport Ministry in Japan in 1991. Among other developments created as a result of that initiative are devices which sound an alarm if a car swerves. That device is developed to wave fatigued drivers if they nod off at the wheel.
Another development involves increasing the shock absorbency of car hoods and increasing the space between the hood and the engine. These innovations are meant to reduce some of the injuries which occur in pedestrian accidents. In these accidents, fatal injuries mostly occur when pedestrians sustain injuries by crashing through the hood into the engine. The new developments are meant to reduce this type of fatal injury.
While manufacturers and experts agree that the new devices will not prevent all accidents and are no substitute for good driving, the devices are intended to help drivers. Currently, only luxury cars have the features. This means that in Japan less than 1% of cars have the special features. However, if the devices prove useful in preventing car crashes and injuries, they may eventually become more standard on both sides of the Atlantic. They may eventually help prevent Miami traffic accidents and injuries as well.
Have you been injured in a Miami car accident? Contact the Flaxman Law Group to schedule a free accident consultation to discuss your case with a compassionate and experienced member of our legal team.