Preventing Pedestrian Road Kill, Now There's an App

 

(John Foy and Associates photo credit)

FORD's new mobile App is designed to alert the motorist about pedestrians and cyclists nearby the traveling vehicle. The App relies on a Bluetooth Low Energy interface to send a signal from a pedestrian or cyclist's smartphone to the passing Ford vehicle equipped with the latest Ford Infotainment System. The system then calculates the potential collision risk providing the driver both screen and audio alerts. The App debuted at the Intelligent Transportation Society of America's World Congress in Los Angeles in September 2022.

“Newer Ford vehicles already with Ford Co-Pilot360 Technology can detect and help warn drivers of pedestrians, bicyclists, scooter riders and others — and even apply brakes if drivers do not respond in time,” Jim Buczkowski, Ford’s executive director of research and advanced engineering, said in a statement. “We are now exploring ways to expand vehicle sensing capability, for areas drivers cannot see, to help people drive even more confidently on roads increasingly shared by others using their two feet or two wheels.”

Ford's executive director revealed plans to shift control of the vehicle from the driver to the algorithm - the consequence of autonomous vehicle technologies. It follows then that liability of vehicle operation shifts from the motorist to the vehicle too.

With logic like this a fatality at Pearl Street and South Coast Highway would not happen because Stanley Issacs was carrying a transponder App. And what if Stanley Issacs had no App?  Would Stanley be at fault for crossing the highway in a crosswalk with no pedestrian permit on his smartphone? And what of those with no Smartphone, like surfers heading to the beach?  

And what of system faults in a technical command chain from Smartphone to vehicle sensors to Infotainment System to the vehicle Can Bus (it's complicated)? Aren't drivers distracted enough ordering pizza, reading football scores while following GoogleMaps from their Dashboards? Must a jury decide consequences of inappropriate technology in 40-million California vehicles?

Oct 28 UPDATE:   Ford announced the pursuit of its Argo self-driving car would be abandoned while retaining "driver assist" capability. Ford invested $3-billion in its self-driving Argo, the math says the business would not return on investment for another 5-years from now.    

The company disclosed a $2.7 billion accounting charge this quarter to wind down Argo, resulting in an $827 million loss.

 The driver-assist technology with on-screen warnings and alarms continues. For details see Wired magazine here.

-LS