I think it’s way off in the future before we stop driving, but this I can see coming on sooner.

Radar-based cruise control can already slow and, and in some cases, apply brakes sufficiently to stop a vehicle. All we have to do is give all cars that technology.

Say, you’re tooling along and the car in front of you stops suddenly because a kid chases a ball that bounced out into the street. Your car’s radar detects the sudden change in the velocity of the car ahead and applies your brakes, maybe even slams them hard to bring you to a stop. The car behind you has the same reaction and then any car in danger further behind you will react similarly, accordion-like.

Instead of braking, let’s say the kid steps out in front of your car so close to you that you have to swerve partially into an adjacent lane. The cars in the adjacent lane could react accordingly, swerving themselves or braking, etc.

Now, this tech. won’t work if there simply is too little time to react or too little distance to permit the laws of physics from working and keeping all cars involved from making contact.

But, how’s this for big brother: the systems could also be programmed to make sure that there is sufficient following distance between cars to guarantee (based on the cars’ relative speeds and braking equipment) that there is time to react to a sudden stop.

The tech could be expanded. What if intesection lights were equipped with transmitters that slowed down cars that approached an intersection where an accident had already occurred? Or, how about police cars with transmitters that would slow cars as they approached the location of a traffic stop (or slow vehicles with criminal suspects in them)? Or, how about construction crews being lawfully allowed to set up a transmitter to slow down cars in a narrow construction zone?

C’mon, any takers?

waste of timeeeeeeeeeee.

Smart Cars are like fat girls, you can hit it all you want, but you dont want to be seen in public with one.

I, too, have been in serious accidents. I was actually t-boned by a grand prix & it flipped my SUV 4 times. No airbags went off and the seatbelt was the only thing that held me in. So I see the points of all the safety equipment, yes. But there’s some equip i see no point in. So with that, i DO agree that the problem here are all the idiots behind the wheel…

Jonmiles, that’s not Audi, that’s the side of the freeway. If your wheel vibrates, you’re off the road.

Joshy, does she tend to drift more often now?

Good idea, Hemi. Nerf cars. Just don’t let your dog get ahold of it.

Jumpoffit, if you look for too long, you’ll get embarrassed when she sees you being shocked by your car. That will be really funny.

I like the idea of having the active safety features included in the test, though. Too often, people focus on passive safety features, like airbags, crumple zones, space cages and so on. But adding electronic stability control and things like that should increase the rating of the car. Finally, it will. I buy cars because of many reasons, but active safety is one of the top reasons for me. And with that, Angelo’s bimmer and 911 would hopefully receive high marks, since the ability to avoid the accident is better than my minivan’s ability. The “bigger is safer” attitude may start to change with these new regulations.

From a guy who’s been in serious accidents (though, because of safety features, were not accidents with serious injuries) and who drives his two-and-a-half year old to Grandma’s house once and a while, I say to car companies, feel free to burden my car with whatever safety features you want. The more the merrier.

I agree with the gun analogy (to a point, there are still differences) at least to the extent that operators of cars are the biggest causes of injuries. There rarely is the “unavoidable accident.” More people need to view cars more like guns, knowing that every yank on the wheel or stomp on the gas, like the squeeze of a trigger, has the power to kill, if done carelessly. And no careful driver, not even the most careful, is perfect in scanning every second on the road for every pothole or patch of black ice, or gauging the closing distances of cars in the rear-view while looking for brake lights ahead.