August 20198 Road accidents reap an unprecedented amount of lives globally every year ­ according to the WHO over 1.3 million people die in traffic yearly and it is also a disproportionate cause of death for young people. On top of that, this staggering figure does not account for accidents where people survive but are severely injured and/or left with lifelong disabilities. Over 90 percent of these accidents are attributable to the human factor. The human factor in this case could be that the driver losing attention, making the wrong decision, fatigue and many more. In non-human caused accidents it could be due to environmental or vehicle factors like malfunctioning breaks, road-side construction, landslides and more.This kind of situation naturally comes at a huge cost for society and private enterprise, not to mention the obvious personal tragedies that each single one of these accidents represents. Safety is therefore a crucial bullet on the list of negative externalities that we as vehicle manufacturers need to deal with.We do so through the development of new technologies and working methods. Some mandated by regulations, and others developed either as good internal ideas or spurred on by the requirements of our customers. But whichever its source may be, the goal is always to be able to transfer as much safety performance as possible to the operators of our vehicles.Today we see the most important developments for safer transports in the areas of Driver Training, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, Driver Monitoring, Autonomy and the always present drive to make the basic functions of a vehicle as reliable as possible. Driver training and coaching has been at the forefront of our safety agenda for a long time, as it at the same time as making driving safer, has led to other more quantifiable benefits like a lowered fuel bill. Training and coaching have since a few years back entered a new era of importance with the emergence of the connected vehicle. Connectivity has enabled real-time monitoring of driver behaviour and thus the possibility to have Driver Coaches that can intervene and remind drivers of correct driving behaviour. The knowledge that you have someone supporting your driving performance is in itself a strong incentive for improved behaviour.Another technology we now see emerging to improve driver behaviour is using video sensors and biometrics (similar to a smart watch sensing your heart rate, or other sensors measuring sweat, breath) to alert drivers when the system senses that the driver is distracted or drowsy. This has seen its most expansive adoption in China where all long-distance buses have had the requirement to NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODS AS MEANS TO ACHIEVE SAFER TRANSPORTSBY ALEXANDER MASTROVITO, HEAD OF SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS, SCANIA GROUPA total of some 40 trucks had to give up their lives during the development phase of the new truck generation. Every single crash test is planned for over a year, takes six to eight weeks to prepare for ­ and is over in half a secondIN MY V EW
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