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Are phones key to safer driving?Oct 11, 2012 (Boston Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Smartphones are blamed for distracted driving and roadway tragedies, but could wireless technology also hold the key to safer highways Massachusetts Institute of Technology computer science professor Hari Balakrishnan and a team of researchers have partnered with auto insurers to see whether smartphones can make us drive more safely. They've developed a program that tracks speeds and trajectories using wireless and cellular networks, relaying that information to insurers who plan to reward responsible road habits. "The value here is pretty simple," Balakrishnan said yesterday at the launch conference for MIT's latest research center, Wireless@MIT. "The users provide data, and if the data suggests they're driving well, they get money back." With 10 million vehicle collisions per year in the U.S. and road congestion on the rise, the need for safer driving is becoming increasingly clear. Balakrishnan's team began real-world tests of its system, which measures wireless signal strengths and other factors, earlier this year. They now have data from a total of 80 kilometers of driving from a few hundred smartphones running their test program, which has at least 97 percent accuracy. But do we really want our speed and location to be continuously tracked And what happens if you're the passenger, not the driver Or if you simply power off your phone when you want to drive like a demon Balakrishnan said the privacy problem likely will be solved with legislation, and notes that the program is voluntary. Technical advances, such as sensors that detect whether you're a driver or a passenger by how you've fastened your seatbelt, may alleviate other concerns. Of course, that's not the only way MIT and others are plotting the future of driving. Doctoral student Swarun Kumar introduced his team's autonomous driving platform CarSpeak, which allows driverless cars to communicate with each another and transmit information. The system allows autonomous cars to "see" beyond their sensors by enabling them to use nearby cars to predict what's coming. Autonomous cars already are street-legal in three states -- Nevada, Florida and California -- and the Google Driverless Car, equipped with sensors and an expensive laser radar system, reportedly has logged more than 300,000 accident-free miles, but MIT is looking to put its own stamp on the future of car transport. [email protected] ___ (c)2012 the Boston Herald Visit the Boston Herald at www.bostonherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |