New Technology Hopes to Prevent School Bus Tragedies
We trust that our children will be safe once they are on the school bus. But what about getting on and off? When it comes to the school bus, one of the biggest fears for just about any bus driver – and parent – is for a child to get hit and injured, or even killed. Unfortunately, that fear isn’t unreasonable.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration found that accidents involving buses are almost three times as deadly than for occupants of other vehicles. School bus drivers report that far too often they see inattentive drivers going right past the bus’s arm indicating that they need to stop. On average, about 21 percent of fatalities occur with those outside of the bus (pedestrians, bicyclists, etc.).
AI Meets Radar Technology
Now with four buses testing a fully automated device made by the Safe Fleet Company, the Hopkins school district in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is finding that it may be possible to anticipate such a danger prior to it occurring. Combining artificial intelligence with radar technology, the predictive analytics built into the software can determine right away whether or not an approaching vehicle will stop in time.
PSA and Right-Hand Danger Zone Protection System
The proprietary device, called the Predictive Stop Arm (PSA), can determine another vehicle’s speed and distance. If the vehicle is deemed to not stop in time, the technology will release a warning to alert both the bus driver and the children outside of the bus both audibly and visually, not to cross the street.
Safe Fleet’s Right-Hand Danger Zone protection system can track the movements of children within a certain perimeter, and display visual warnings to the bus driver when there is a present risk.
Currently, the PSA is being tested in five different locations across the country. According to Hopkins schools Director of Transportation, Derrick Agate, “It prevents the child from ever stepping out into the roadway when the system predicts the motorist will not stop.”
Safe Fleet Working Hard to Improve Safety
Safe Fleet, a leading global provider of safety solutions for fleet vehicles, is now utilizing commercial marketing to sell its PSA devices for somewhere between $2,000 and $3,000 an installation. They are working hard to prevent injuries and save lives by increasing driver performance, improving outside safety, and optimizing fleet operations management.
The Attorneys at Graves McLain Can Help
If your child has been injured in an accident, it can have a profound impact on many aspects of their life. You and your family should not have to pay for someone else’s careless mistake. Call the experienced Motor Vehicle Accident attorneys at Graves McLain for a free consultation at 918-359-6600.
Graves McLain, Serious Lawyers for Serious Accidents