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The new technology (good laughs) is highly valuable indeed- must be only invert fitted.
Every taxpayer should wear one, upon approach of a GM rep being warned that his wallet is in imminent danger.
Ah yes, another technology to try to “save” us from our own, ever-growing stupidity.
Putting down the mobile phone and watching the road will save more pedestrians and bikes than this doohickey ever would. But God forbid we ever be inconvenienced like that…
Just what I need, something to tell me when I am stuck behind cyclist!
Interesting that the video opens in NYC, where there actually are pedestrians and bikes. The device would show 100 signals on every block!
I guess it makes more sense in the other 99.99% of America, where brain-dead execs tear around their corporate campus and nearly kill lone bikers and walkers….
GM actuallty thinks this is a important step to improve something? This doesn’t make me feel good about using tax money to prop up GM. Could it be any clearer that General Motors is every bit as out of touch as Bush has been these last 8 years? Declare bankrupcy,fire the ignorant CEO and start over. Oh yeah , and do it on YOUR dime, not mine.
It’s called V2P! “Vehicles, 2. Pedestrians, zero.” Did I hear them say when approaching a bicycle, the vehicle automatically honks the horn?
GM Spokesbot: And the techology will fit on the head of a pin!!
Umm, how about working on being profitable?
I’m sorry to disagree with the tone of the comments so far, but I think it is good GM is investing in this. This type of R&D is very cheap, and points us in a useful direction.
This forum lambasts GM for not investing in better products; here is a case where they are trying to do something productive.
Electronic Stability Programs were a significant advance. The next step towards safety will have to be some kind of sensed awareness about the world around us — we aleady see this with, for example, radar looking at the cars ahead.
Is the technology demonstrated in the video ready for prime time? No. But you need to move forward in steps. Good for GM.
I noticed the warning for “cyclist ahead” (1:20) occurred with about 25 feet to spare. Just long enough to know what you’re running over I suppose.
I thought that GM’s core business was now healthcare… and occasionally selling a vehicle or two trying to pay for it.
Ah yes, another technology to try to “save” us from our own, ever-growing stupidity.
Putting down the mobile phone and watching the road will save more pedestrians and bikes than this doohickey ever would. But God forbid we ever be inconvenienced like that…
Right on jgh!!
I rented a Mercury Marquis this weekend for a 5-person road trip. Admittedly the CTS is a much better car than the antique Marquis. However, one of the things that I noticed about the car was that it was loaded with gimmicks and gizmos similar in spirit to the V2P system – even down to heated exterior mirrors.
Nice enough, but underlying car was horrible to drive. Actually had a rear seat passenger feeling seasick on a flat Texas road.
GM (again – already better than the Marquis in most cars) should be concentrating on improving the underlying vehicle and not on gimmicks. Improving your plastic intake manifolds is money much better spent than on developing something that honks the horn at pretty girls riding bicycles.
Ah yes, another technology to try to “save” us from our own, ever-growing stupidity.
Exactly. Are people going to have to have alarms for each sign, traffic signal, etc.? Why bother looking where you’re going at all?
John
So rather than offering real warranties with teeth (in order to take the risk of buying a GM car off the back of the customer) they blow money on crap like this. Nice.
“Warning. Cyclist ahead”
thump….thump.
I remember reading about F4 pilots Viet Nam who turned off the “growler” signal in their headsets that warned them when the were being splashed by ground-based SAM radar. It was too distracting. They knew that there were SAMs and they knew how to take evasive actions. In essence, they felt it more important to rely on their own hard-won skills than some electronic nanny that didn’t give them enough information and made a lot of noise.
These days, I drive with the stability control turned off. I really can’t stand the fact that the system cuts power right when you need it most just because there was a slight loss of traction as you turned onto a busy street.
They’re going to have some competition. Apparently, there is a company putting a device on the market that allows cyclists to detect an approaching vehicle. It displays an image of the car on a screen for cyclist to see and take evasive action if needed. I’m not sure of what it cost to develop or how much R&D was involved, but you can check it out here:
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=&subcategory=&brand=&sku=2783&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=/search_results.cfm
I think this technology should be implemented, but it should be connected to a bomb (not the airbag, an actual hurt-someone bomb) near the driver.
If the V2P system detects that the car position has overlapped the pedestrian/bicycle position (i.e. the driver has hit the bicyclist/pedestrian), the bomb goes off.
That will equal the risk between Mr. Walker and Mr. Wheeler…..:-D….
+1 to radimus
I’m a fairly serious cyclist. I’m not sure how I feel about aids like this, particularly because I’ve been hit three times by cars. The worst accident left me with a broken knee and a metal plate in my leg – and it was my own fault. The other two were geezers who didn’t see me and turned into my path.
On one hand, it’s nice that drivers would get a heads up, on the other hand, I think it might make them less alert to what’s actually happening on the road because they’re relying on some electronic aid so they’ll get lazy.
In terms of cycling safety, nothing beats catching a driver’s eye and making sure they see you.
BTW, they changed some intersections in West Bloomfield to those maddening “rotaries”. They’re somehow supposed to be safer and save gas by not having people idling at red lights but my first thought is that they are much more dangerous for cyclists than a traffic light and a 90 deg intersection.
As for the link to the safety device at the Nashbar site, helmet mounted mirrors are much better. You can immediately aim the mirror where you need to see, it’s not vibrating all the time distorting the image and you don’t have to take your eyes off the road.
The best part about it is when people ask me what it is. I say it’s a rear view mirror, and many say, “what does it do?” But then I got the same question when I’d tell them that gizmo on the trailing edge of my VW Bus’ roof was an oil cooler. Ummm, cool oil? I’d answer. Hi-Po 1648, dual port heads, street cam, Holley-Weber, 009 distribolator and a high output Melling oil pump. On cold mornings the oil pressure would be so high that I’d have to use truck oil filters and crank them on with a wrench, otherwise either the side seam would fail or the gasket would blow out.
There are some pretty cool gizmos for bikes these days. Garmin has a way cool combination cyclocomputer and GPS unit. You can store a route and then compare your best times. It uses the GPS tech for altimeter functions too.
If combined with automatic braking technology this could be a real lifesaver, as in making accidents difficult or impossible to occur. Think about how rare collisions between trains are: technology and traffic control prevent them. We need the same for cars.
Good subject!