One of the serious problems we have in Malaysia is motorcyclists being seemingly ‘colour blind’ at junctions and speeding across even when the light is red. There are lots of dashcam videos which show unfortunate motorists colliding with them since such irresponsible action is unexpected.
Sometimes a driver might be able to take avoiding action (or it’s just ‘luck’. There are now Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS) in many cars which can detect a possible collision with another road-user and activate the brakes automatically if the driver does not do so in time. But reacting to a motorcyclist ignoring a red light is a tricky situation which the computer might not be able to respond to quickly enough.
More advanced ADAS
Now Nissan has developed new technology for its ADAS which has intersection collision avoidance. The technology has the ability to perform certain automatic collision-avoidance manoeuvres in the more complex environment of intersections.
The technology, part of its ProPilot technology for autonomous driving, uses a new control logic for intersection collision avoidance based on ground-truth perception technology utilizing next-generation LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging). It can detect an object’s speed, location, and potential risk of a collision from a lateral direction. The system is designed to instantly respond to the changing situation through such steps as emergency application of the brakes or releasing the brakes when the potential risk has been avoided.
Entire range of scenarios
“Development of this technology is being carried out under Nissan Ambition 2030, the company’s long-term vision. We are on course to develop collision-avoidance technology utilizing next-generation LiDAR technology by the mid-2020s. Aiming to develop future autonomous driving technologies that customers can use with peace of mind, Nissan is working to fully understand the entire range of accident scenarios by analysing complex accidents that occur in the real world. Our efforts are aimed to substantially improve accident avoidance,” said Senior Vice-President Takao Asami, Head of Nissan’s Research and Advanced Engineering Division.
We can’t wait for the technology to be fully developed and ready for introduction in production models. Certainly, for the Malaysian market, such a system is urgently needed as we have too many motorcyclists who seem to be ‘colour blind’ and don’t stop when the traffic light is red. Such a system will help save car owners from the time-consuming procedures after an accident that is not their fault at all.