TORONTO – Automotive giant Honda wants to help cut down on the number of injuries and deaths caused by collisions between cars, motorcycles and pedestrians by testing a new smartphone app the company says will warn both parties of incoming traffic.
Officials say the application “uses cooperative communication between an individual’s smartphone and nearby vehicles and provides auditory and visual warnings to both the pedestrian and drivers.”
Although still in its research and testing phase, Honda calls the system as advanced Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P) and Vehicle-to-Motorcycle (V2M) technologies.
Researchers say cars would be equipped with a Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) device to detect a pedestrian with a DSRC enabled smartphone.
“While these are still experimental technologies, they provide a strong indication of the future potential for the kinds of advanced collision sensing and predictive technologies,” said Jim Keller, chief engineer for Honda R&D Americas, Inc. in a media release.
This system is still being developed with help from the University of Michigan and it’s not known when the notification devices will be made available.
Honda recently tested the app and posted a video demonstration online.
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