Eu to save you from yourself

[mybrainhurts]

Just received this via email.....

European Commission allocates frequency band for anti-collision radar
19th January 2005

Short-range radars that can detect collision dangers and automatically apply a car's brakes should be available by mid-2005, after the European
Commission's allocation of a specific radio frequency band to short-range radar devices.

The move follows a two-year drive by the Commission and EU radio spectrum and road safety experts. The European Road Safety Action Programme aims to halve
the number of road accident victims in the EU by 2010.

Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said: "Short-range radar can save lives. This innovative technology, developed by industry partly
with the help of EU-funded research, will reduce the frequency, severity and cost of road accidents. Today's decision opens radio bands to short-range radar while preventing radio interference to other essential users of these frequencies. The Commission thereby provides a sound legal basis for an EU-wide
market for short-range radar technology. I hope the automotive industry will make full use of this opportunity".

The frequency band allocation, which is to enter into force in mid-2005, opens the 24 GHz frequency band for a time-limited period to the use of car radars
across the EU. Beyond 2013, by which time the number of cars using SRR may have grown to a level where other wireless services could be affected, new automotive radar applications will be required to use another frequency band (79 GHz) already harmonised by an earlier Commission Decision, No. 2004/545/EC.

Further information available on:

europa.eu.int/information_society/policy/radio_spectrum/ref_info/documents/l
egislative_documents/index_en.htm


Soon to be compulsory, no doubt?

Just wondering how this will cope when someone strays too close to another vehicle, downhill.....on ice?

[MilnerR]

Imagine turning right out of a junction behind another car and the rader decides you are too close and slams the brakes on mid junction
If the systems were ever made compulsory in new cars i can see a thriving automotive business springing up to deactivate them.

[jacobyte]

So you drive through a small swarm of large insects. Oops...

Or it starts snowing/hailing/raining. Oops...

Let the driver control the car!

[bryan35]

it will all be down to the software.
Don't some mercs already do this with adaptive cruise control?
you can drive on a motorway and never touch the brakes or accelerator. Someone cuts in, you gently brake then maintain a safe distace, that sort of thing.

[Dougie.]

mybrainhurts said:

Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said: "Short-range radar can save lives. ".

Yes, I've always thought radar detectors saved lives, ta.

Seriously, what a ridiculous concept. Surely it would be a lot cheaper and more effective to train people to apply the brakes/steer properly before an impending collision?

[mondeoman]

Why don't they just build better trains?

[Liszt]

bryan35 said:

it will all be down to the software. Don't some mercs already do this with adaptive cruise control? you can drive on a motorway and never touch the brakes or accelerator. Someone cuts in, you gently brake then maintain a safe distace, that sort of thing.

Yep distronic I think they imaginativley called it.

[Richard C]

I have a self designed laser anti-collision device. It measures the distance to the obstruction in front and warns me if I'm too close. It works on 904nm Infra red and emits quite a powerful wide beam and using pulses continually emitted at 8 millisecond intervals ensures that errors due to approaching cars and stationary objects are filtered out.

While I have never really previously thought I need such a device, this safety stuff is really getting to me and I think I need to do something to prove I am a responsible motorist. I have researched the subject and decided to use exactly the same technology and settings as the LTI20-20 speed detector device which as we all know is the best technology in the world.

[8Pack]

bryan35 said:

it will all be down to the software. Don't some mercs already do this with adaptive cruise control? you can drive on a motorway and never touch the brakes or accelerator. Someone cuts in, you gently brake then maintain a safe distace, that sort of thing.

Yeah, the new series XJ8 Jaguars also have adaptive cruise and a system which applies the brakes up to the anti-lock limit IF the driver is NOT braking hard enough to stop in time.

That's one thing, but not sure what this is refering to. Is this a roadside device MBH which is linked to the above technology in the car by a microwave link?

By the way, IIRC the 24 Ghz band is a Radio Ham band as well. MMmmh! transmitters

>> Edited by 8Pack on Friday 21st January 00:20

[towman]

For years I have linked three different devices to impliment a collision avoidance system.

The input system logs the speed of my car, the speed of other vehicles and the distances between us. It also collects data regarding the direction of travel of other vehicles. It is able to differentiate between vehicles and rain/insects etc.

The CPU interrogates the input system many times a second and computes the likelihood of a crash. Any changes to my course and speed are instantly sent to the output devices which are connected to the throttle/brakes and the steering wheel.

I am of course referring to that wonderful IT bundle made up of Eyes/Brain/Hands & Feet.

It works for me!

Steve

[stubydoo]

"I have a self designed laser anti-collision device. It measures the distance to the obstruction in front and warns me if I'm too close."

So do I Richard, mine gives off a 3 dimensional signal, along with perfect colour resolution - commonly known as MY EYES !!
Work perfectly, even send signals to various parts of my body to apply brakes, switch them off and move the steering wheel !! ROFL

[8Pack]

When you look at an electrical diagram for a car these days days you can clearly see things which are being installed for future use. Road pricing, to name but one.

[bjwoods]

8Pack said:

When you look at an electrical diagram for a car these days days you can clearly see things which are being installed for future use. Road pricing, to name but one.

Unless All OLD cars had this fitted at exactly the same time, IT would cause thousands of rear enders.


In theory would work better than hand/eye/brain, but ONLY with evcery car in Europe with it day, overwise carnage
B

[BliarOut]

bryan35 said:

it will all be down to the software. Don't some mercs already do this with adaptive cruise control? you can drive on a motorway and never touch the brakes or accelerator. Someone cuts in, you gently brake then maintain a safe distace, that sort of thing.

That sounds brilliant. Should help me to catch forty winks while I'm driving

The solution is and will always be better driver training, end of.

[nel]

Richard C said:

I have a self designed laser anti-collision device. It measures the distance to the obstruction in front and warns me if I'm too close. It works on 904nm Infra red and emits quite a powerful wide beam and using pulses continually emitted at 8 millisecond intervals ensures that errors due to approaching cars and stationary objects are filtered out. While I have never really previously thought I need such a device, this safety stuff is really getting to me and I think I need to do something to prove I am a responsible motorist. I have researched the subject and decided to use exactly the same technology and settings as the LTI20-20 speed detector device which as we all know is the best technology in the world.

This "device" presumably has the added benefit of screwing up any attempt at reading the speed of you car with an LTI20-20.....

[rus wood]

I read that Belgium are trying to ban Cruise Control because of a spate of accidents by drivers using it.

I have to admit (without prejudice) that once or twice I have caught myself trying to wait until the last instant before braking whilst on CC. I know it is wrong and I try to avoid it.

Cruise control in conjunction with this sort of thing will only work if the detection criteria are set very conservatively. What about cars in other lanes on the motorway?

Reach for the off button!

Russ

[turbobloke]

European Commission said:

The move follows a two-year drive

If only it did.
They might have discovered in that time that these nanny state Darwin cheaters aren't safety aids but a positive danger. By taking away responsibility, concentration and generally de-skilling drivers every journey will be more fdangerous.

towman said:

I am of course referring to that wonderful IT bundle made up of Eyes/Brain/Hands & Feet.

Ah, a fleshware solution...

[Alice Cupra]

I am part of the school of thought that, althugh they may bleat on about these technological wonders, no car maker would ever accept to fitting them as standard.

I'm assuming that you've all heard about the bloke who hired a Winnibago in the US and was told about the cruise control feature. So he switched it on on the freeway and went into the back to make a cuppa. Of course the thing crashed, but he successfully sued as they didn't point out that Cruise control wasn't actually an autopilot.

Same sort of thing would happen here. Imagine the new cars fitted with "short range radar devices" which "make sure that collisions are avoided".

There will be people going out, accellerator mashed into the carpet to test it out.

First prang - sue the a$$es of the car manufacturer, 'cos they said it wouldn't crash....

[mybrainhurts]

That won't bother Brussels.....

control....control....control.......

[granville]

What a quality name, 'Alice Cupra;' - excellent!