Arizona accident
The death in March of a pedestrian hit by a self-driving car in Arizona “is a sad reminder of the dangers of overreliance on autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicle technology,” said Dr. Richard Harkness, CEO of ADEPT Driver, a developer of crash-avoidance training programs. “In this heartbreaking case, a driver was behind the wheel, but did not override the technology that missed seeing the pedestrian who was killed.” ADEPT Driver offers neuro-cognitive training that allows the driver to quickly scan the driving environment and identify hazards, he said. “When operating autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles, the driver must be ready to quickly and without warning scan, detect hazards and take control of the vehicle. If your brain is not trained to do this specific task, chances are the crash will happen before you recognize it.”
Dunkin’ Donuts mobile ordering
Your family physician may tell you not to overdo the donuts, but when you have no options for a quick breakfast before a call, there’s always Dunkin’ Donuts. Dunkin’s On-the-Go Mobile Ordering is now available through the Google Assistant, on iPhones and Android phones. DD Perks® Rewards members can use the Google Assistant, Google’s voice assistant technology, on their iPhones and Android phones to place a mobile order for coffee, beverages, baked goods and breakfast sandwiches, and then speed past the line in store for pick-up. Guests who have a DD Perks account and a Google account can link both, with all ordering and payments happening within Dunkin’ Donuts’ mobile platform. Guests can order from saved Favorites and items previously ordered via the Dunkin’ Mobile® App. To get started, guests need simply say, “Hey Google, talk to Dunkin’ Donuts.”
Who’s driving?
Roughly a third of recent high school graduates have ridden in a motor vehicle with a substance-impaired driver, according to a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions. The study found that during the first two years after high school graduation, 23 percent of young adults had ridden with a marijuana-impaired driver at least once, while 20 percent had ridden with an alcohol-impaired driver, and 6 percent had ridden with a driver impaired by glue or solvents or harder, illicit drugs, such as amphetamines, opioids or cocaine. The authors noted that having ridden with an impaired driver in the past was linked to a higher risk of driving while impaired and of riding with an impaired driver in the future. Other factors that increased the risk for riding with an impaired driver were living alone and not attending a four-year college. For young adults in the study who attended a four-year college, living on campus increased their risk of riding with an impaired driver. The authors called for enhancements to informational programs that educate young people on the risks of riding with impaired drivers.
New drivers’ skills
A UCLA researcher asked instructors from a Los Angeles driving school to rate students’ driving skills on a scale of 1 to 4, and the researchers analyzed the results based on several variables. Among males, the older the student, the worse his driving skills score. There was a similar trend among female drivers, but it was not as significant. A history of playing any kind of organized sport was linked to better driving skills among both men and women. Men and women who played sports scored 2.66 and 2.43, respectively, while men and women who had not played organized sports had average scores of 1.94 and 1.60. Previous studies have shown that participating in organized sports improves spatial perception. Meanwhile, playing video games showed no relationship to driving abilities. The authors expected the opposite, because earlier research has shown that playing action video games improves spatial cognition.
Sunroof regulations coming?
A dozen years ago, 18-year-old Liza Hankins was thrown through the closed sunroof of her sport-utility vehicle during a crash and paralyzed, according to a recent article in the New York Times. Her family sued the truck’s maker, Ford, claiming it had failed to live up to its safety responsibilities. Ford won the case after it pointed out that no government regulations required a sunroof – even a closed one – to keep someone inside a vehicle in a crash. Twelve years later, no such regulations exist, even as more buyers are opting for the sunroof option and more carmakers are introducing larger, panoramic sunroofs, reports the newspaper. Some automakers have taken steps to make sunroofs safer by using laminated safety glass, while gadgets now in the works could help limit sunroof ejections during rollovers. And a new test created by researchers at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration could mean the federal government is laying the groundwork for regulations governing sunroofs.
Remote control drivers
While major technology and car companies are teaching cars to drive themselves, Phantom Auto in Mountain View, Calif., is working on remote control systems, often referred to as teleoperation, reports the New York Times. In one demonstration, Ben Shukman, a software engineer for Phantom Auto, sat in front of a phalanx of video screens in Mountain View, Calif. Using a live, two-way video connection along with the kind of steering wheel and pedals usually reserved for video games, he was driving a Lincoln MKZ in Las Vegas, hundreds of miles away. Many see teleoperation as a necessary safety feature for the autonomous cars of the future. California was scheduled to allow companies to test autonomous vehicles without a safety driver – as long as the car can be operated remotely – starting in April.