Automotive Sensors – Advancing Telematics in Safety and Controls

Telematics comprises of telecommunication which involves the transfer of information from the on-board vehicle telematics sensors to a crash resistant black box. Various applications of vehicle telematics include summoning roadside assistance, smart parking, GPS Navigation, emergency warning systems, re-routing, hands-free cell phone, recording driver’s behavior many more.

These applications of telematics sensors are further refined to be used in the following applications that include-

Lane Assistance- A lane assistance system guides the drives to stay on the correct lane. In case the driver diverts from the path the system will notify the driver or auto correct the lane. This considerably reduces the chances of crash.

Smart Parking- According to a study drivers incur a cost of $1.39 every time they search for a parking space. A smart parking system uses sensors in the parking space that detect the presence and absence of vehicle. These sensors guide the driver to the vacant parking space and helps in optimal utilization of the parking space.

Insurance- Vehicle telematics has emerged out to be a boon for the insurance companies. Insurance companies monitor the behavior of the driver through telematics and charge premium depending on the driver’s behavior. With the help of telematics drivers are classified as high or low degree of claim propensity.

Auto Driving- The concept of driverless cars is still in prototype phase and will likely to increase sensors in telematics application. Companies like Google, Mercedes, GM and many more are working on making this dream a reality. By 2016 Mercedes is planning to launch Autobahn Pilot which will be capable of hands-free driving and autonomous over-taking.

Fleet Management- Fleet management is the most popular use of vehicle telematics. Telematics has changed the face of modern fleet management systems. This enables the company to keep track of their vehicle location and plan their logistic operations based on that. Telematics in fleet management have been successful top such an extent that UPS-world’s largest private shipper with more than 100,000 vehicles reduced its preventive maintenance bill by half; at the same time it improved its vehicles reliability.

No doubt telematics has notable benefits that allow the driver to make the best use of their time and support their driving. Despite of this there is a long list of crashes that happened because of the use of telematics. Telematics leads to distraction of the driver and surprisingly distraction related crashes occurred mostly in benign conditions like smooth road and nice weather. The driver gets so engrossed in the in vehicle tasks that they lose track of the driving and crash. The simple concept behind these crashes is multi-tasking. The driver has to keep a track of the road and also the telematics system.

Telematics can lead to crashes because firstly the driver spends a considerable time in using the system that he either misses out the dangers or see them too late. Secondly the continuous focus on the telematics device keeps pulling their attention from the road. Lastly the urge to complete the in-vehicle task stresses out the driver. 

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