Should you suffer a seizure while driving, autonomous features of your car could guide you to safety. That’s the view of Amnon Shashua, chairman of Jerusalem-based Mobileye NV, a supplier of assisted-driving technology and developer of machine-vision chips and software.
Orr Hirschauge in the Wall Street Journal quotes him as saying, “Positioned as a comfort feature or as something that is cool to have, the autonomous car would not make it to the mass market.” More promising, Shashua suggests, would be functionality that takes over if a driver suffers from a heart attack or falls asleep. Smart wrist bands or biometric sensors embedded in the driver’s seat could monitor the driver’s condition.
Hirschauge cites NHTSA figures showing that in 2013 there were 543 fatal crashes in the U.S. involving drivers suffering from diabetic reactions, seizures, heart attacks, low or high blood pressure, fainting, and other health-related conditions. Another study indicates that incapacitation is a factor behind 6.4% of accidents. Driver inattention remains the biggest factor at 22.7%.
Progress will depend in part on actions of regulators. Hirschauge quotes NHTSA head Mark Rosekind as saying, “Part of what we’re trying to figure out with all this new technology is: Are there places where innovations are going to run up against federal regulations? There are so many moving pieces here.”
Hirschauge also quotes Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co., as saying, “All these technologies will move much faster than the regulator.”
