Autonomous cars are a field that has generated a huge amount of attention from late, from the public yes, but more importantly, from every other tech corporation as well. Although cars with full self-driving capabilities that actually do not require a driver are still a few years away, the progress we are making in the direction has already started to reflect in our vehicles,. Along the same, Mobileye has announced that it has installed smart accident prevention technology across 4,500 for-hire vehicles used by drivers in NYC.
The cars that have received the new tools are mostly for-hire vehicles that are deployed by used by drivers. Many of these drivers also work for for services like Uber and Lyft in New York City. In case you are wondering, Mobileye was brought on board by transportation insurance provider Atlas Financial Holdings, who obviously does not want any accidents to happen to insured vehicles.
So the system basically consists of a two parts. While a high resolution vision sensor checks the road out for potential dangers, an on-board computing system alerts drivers whenever a threatening or potentially dangerous situation occurs. In combination with the human driver, it is hoped that this system would decrease the likelihood of accidents by a significant amount.
However, it is not all good stuff for drivers. Why? Well, the system also packs a Pointer Telocation tech that can allow owners and employers to keep driver behavior under their sights. Although I am note sure how that arrangement works, considering that Mobileye’s contract was with the insurance company and not with Uber or Lyft. But then, the insurance service could well provide them with the facility of keeping an eye on their drivers in case an accident does occur.
However, that is probably a small price to pay for avoiding accidents and the resulting damage to humans and property. It will be interesting to see the amount of safety that Mobileye’s systems are able to confer upon these vehicles. It is going to be the first test of its sort in many ways and as such, a lot of eyes will be trained upon the results. If this program proves to be successful, it would open the doors to a very lucrative market for Mobileye and its peers.
