Safety is the one issue or concern that I believe has prevented flying cars from becoming a reality. Our society values it's safety and we often take for granted the amount of infrastructure required to create that feeling of security. Just imagine what you would do if all of a sudden the vehicles around you on the road decided to ignore basic safety rules. Cars would be driving on the centerline, pulling u-turns, speeding too fast or driving too slow, running red lights and stop signs and maybe even ignoring the roads altogether and driving over greenbelts and peoples yards.  Safety is the most important thing a vehicle should “do” well. More important than getting good mileag, having lots of power, enjoying a spacious interior or even the newest fashion colour. Yet building safety into cars is expensive, and predicting what the safety issues will be for Flying Cars is difficult. I have collected a number of facts from the AAA National Office in the USA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. These facts are considered by Canadian automotive authorities and insurance companies to be reflective of Canadian facts. Read this carefully and think about what you see around you. Are you being safety conscious every day. Finally, think about how nice it woul be to have a vehicle that took care of these issues for you, one that di the driving and was never "asleep" at the wheel. Think about enjoying a juicy burger or talking on the phone without risking the lives of your family or others. Think about the freedom a flying car navigated with GPS would give you.

The Facts:

* Traffic crashes are the leading cause of workplace deaths, accounting for 1,347 (23.5 percent) of  worker deaths in 2000, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. More than half of these victims were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash. [13]

* Worldwide, 1.26 million people worldwide died as a result of road traffic injuries in 2000. The economic cost of road traffic injuries is $518 billion per year, according to the World Health Organization.[8]

* Roadway fatalities increase when speed limits are raised.

* Traffic calming measures—speed humps, raised crosswalks, road narrowing and traffic circles — reduce speed and injuries. [5]

* Alcohol involvement in fatal crashes fell from 47 percent in 1992 to 41 percent in 2002. [6]

* Only 75 percent of drivers wear seatbelts.

* Teenagers drive less than all but the very oldest drivers, but their numbers of crashes and crash deaths are disproportionately high, largely because of young drivers’ immaturity combined with driving inexperience. Sixty-one percent of teenage passenger deaths in 2002 occurred when another teenager was driving. [10]

* An analysis of randomized controlled trials found that driver education courses led to earlier licensing but not to a reduction in road crashes. A similar analysis found no benefit to post-licensing driver education. [7]

AAA National Office, U.S.A.

Based on the information above, I feel that flying cars, whose speed and flight path are controlled by GPS satelite systems and cellular technology, are a safer way to travel and would  not only save lives but also lower medical and insurance costs.

T. Bella Dinh-Zarr,  with the AAA National Office in the United States says that driver behavior plays a big part in motor vehicle safety. By creating a flying car that does not need driver attention to stay on a road, watch for stoplights, and other things drivers have to think about,  we can drastically reduce injury and death.  How do we remove these things, we introduce flying cars with GPS and cellular systems to control the cars from a central location. The driver would enter their coordinates, then enter the coordinates for their destination and the car would do the rest!

Mike Goodman, Ph.D., a human engineering psychologist at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says, "... drivers get distracted by radios, DVD players, food, small children ..." says Mike Goodman.  To understand real-world driving behavior, Goodman took 100 vehicles and put five cameras, a radar system and sensors to measure braking, steering and acceleration inside them. The study is not yet complete, but Goodman says he is amazed at the many close calls and crashes, most of which were not reported to the police. “These are not the kind of things you’d think people would do if they knew they were being filmed,” he says.



Expert sources for this link:

T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, Ph.D., M.P.H.
AAA National Office
(202) 942-2050
dinhzarr@national.aaa.com

Mike Goodman, Ph.D.
Human Engineering Psychologist
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
www.nhtsa.dot.gov