Friday 29 March 2024
LIFESTYLE

Will the ‘death proof’ car ever be a reality?

Last year, Volvo made headlines when they announced that there would be no fatalities in a Volvo car by 2022. Now, while this might sound a little preposterous, it’s not that hard to believe. Particularly, when you consider that Volvo has already created a vehicle that has been involved in no fatalities for over thirteen years since it has been on the market. However, one does have to take into account the popularity of this car. It’s fair to say that there may not be that many of the cars on the road at all, limiting the chance of a potentially fatal incident.

That said, there is some signs that suggest a car that is used all over the world, is budget friendly and will be widely available, will one day be death proof. Let’s look at some of the factors that are playing into this belief.

Car designs are improving

It’s true, we’ve come a long way from the days where if you were involved in a car accident in a vehicle your chances of surviving were very slim. Today, your chances of even getting injured are quite small in a modern car. That’s assuming that you do drive under the speed limit, are in the right frame of mind and are not driving recklessly. The designs are clever. These days, the front of the car is created in a way that it takes all the pressure of a collision leaving the drivers and the passengers almost completely protected. They do this by carefully selecting the shape and mold of the body. It’s fascinating to see how this works in crash tech vehicles, as you can see below.

Self-driving cars today

You would be right in thinking that self-driving cars are the reason why Volvo are so confident in their claim of a death proof car and this does make a lot of sense. There are plenty of attorneys who deal with car accident cases, and if you read about these attorneys, you’ll find most of these claims involve human error. If you have a car that drives itself, the issue of human error disappears. There’s just one slight problem. The cars currently on the road that are described as self-driving aren’t actually the real deal. You do need both hands on the steering wheel, and many have a fail safe that means if you don’t do this the car won’t even start. Take your hands off the wheel, and the car will shut down, pulling over at the side of the road. So, what tech will ensure that we have a real self-driving car?

Self-driving cars tomorrow

Thankfully, tomorrow’s tech is coming fast, and it’s all about machine learning. You’ll likely hear those two words a lot when discussing future technology because it could be the key to a lot of breakthroughs, including self-driving vehicles. We’re talking about true self-driving vehicles, the type that people dreamt of ever since they appeared in technology. With machine learning, processing power reaches levels hundreds of times more powerful than human intelligence. That’s exactly what you need to get the concept of the self-driving car to really fly.

But will this lead to the death proof car? Despite other issues causing accidents aside from human error, it is possible that a fully autonomous vehicle could become the first true death proof car in our lifetime.

** This is a collaborative post

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