Ensuring road safety through technology
If you believe that the conversation on road safety has gotten too old & is a story that has been told too many times, you may want to think again. It was found that in India alone, 6 two-wheeler riders die due to road accidents.
Lectures & seminars have been held for years, educating university students & corporate professionals laike on the importance of road safety. There have even been several full-fledged courses that teach you how to be a safe driver. You soon come to realise that none of that has helped reduce the statistic when you know that 56,136 two-wheeler riders met with fatal accidents in the year 2019, in India.
How do we solve this? How do we bring that harrowing statistic down? Is that even a possibility?
To answer these questions, we should be taking a better look at the root cause of these fatalities. The 201st report of the Law Commission of India stated that 50% of road accident victims could be saved if they were given timely medical attention. It is purported that 90% fatal injuries can be resolved, if only the victim is treated within the first hour of the injury. Does that not show us the clear “need of the hour”?
Accidents, as the name suggests, are unplanned events. Unforeseen & sometimes even occur when plans are best laid out. So why not focus on getting help to the ones that need it?
Solution : An advanced alert system.
Imagine a solution, built into your biking helmet or even right onto your vehicle. A system that is easily concealed, negligible in weight & unparalleled in necessity. A system that would sense a crash, send out alerts to contacts & ring in the emergency services with the exact location of where the accident has occurred.
Is this possible?
Yes, it is & it already exists.
Vicara, developed a solution that solves this very problem for one of the world’s largest helmet manufacturers. The solution is a tiny device that could be easily retrofitted into existing helmets & could go right into the design of new helmets without having to make significant changes to the helmets in terms of weight, size or shape.These devices, though small, were capable of precise & timely actions, without external prompts from users.
The device, placed within helmets, was capable of automatically identifying a crash or a fall when it occurred. It would then proceed to communicate the necessary information to the mobile application that it works with. Within 30 seconds of the crash, emergency contacts are sent out messages with the details of the crash-site. The device also ensures that emergency services are alerted. It sends across the location & details of the accident victim including the blood-type, medical history & general information.
The system also allowed for a manual override incase of a drop or a false alert. The user would be able to stop the alert by simply opening up the mobile app & hitting the “STOP” button.
This simple system could mean the difference between saving a life or letting one go.
The possibilities for it are endless. The device can be fixed onto two-wheelers before or after manufacturing, it could be modified to work with cars or bigger vehicles, & could even be strapped onto your wrists.
Learn more about this technology here : https://vicara.co/vme-applications/fall-detection-crash-sensing
