The speed in the crosshairs. It is a constant when talking about security and if we look at the measures that are being taken in recent years. To reduce deaths in urban areas, Ford has had an idea: fence them off using GPS technology.
“Speed kills.” Without going any further, our director of the DGT has repeatedly pointed to speed as the most lethal cause of accidents for drivers, passengers and other traffic agents. In fact, he has been heard on numerous occasions that “speed is what kills” or that buying a car that goes 200 km/h “only puts you in jail”.
But the DGT is not the only institution that has speed between eyebrows. The European Union seeks with the intelligent speed assistant (ISA, for its acronym in English) to put numerous obstacles to those who exceed the maximum allowed, either capping the performance of the car or with repeated haptic and sound signals warning the driver.
In town. If the lethality of speed increases exponentially on the highway for drivers and passengers, the same happens in the city with pedestrians. In 2021 they died run over in Spain 383 pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists or users of personal mobility vehicles. 38% of the total number of people killed in traffic accidents.
According to data provided by the DGT, at 30 km/h only the 5% of pedestrians struck. However, this figure grows to 50% when the speed rises to 50 km/h. Figures that have motivated the limitation in the city to 30 km/h on all streets with one lane in each direction.
Let’s fence them. Ford’s solution to this problem is simple: geofence cities. In order not to depend on the driver reading the signal or the vehicle detecting it with its signal recognition system, Ford proposes to use GPS positioning to establish a perimeter around the city that limits the speed of vehicles inside it.
With this system, the driver receives an indicator on the instrument panel with the maximum speed allowed and the vehicle automatically adapts its pace to urban demands. These limitations could even be changed dynamically, taking into account possible works or entrance and exit of schools, for example. Of course, Ford ensures that the driver could deactivate the system again once inside.
safe space. This Ford proposal continues to be one more step in the creation of safer and more habitable cities. Although the proposal focuses on speed, the manufacturers already contemplate that their plug-in hybrids only circulate in electric mode on certain streets or areas, even reserving this energy throughout the trip to emit less polluting substances in these spaces.
