From the Emoji jacket that helps cyclists communicate in traffic to systems that prevent accidental door opening, through to those that anticipate queues and accidents: three ideas from Ford set to improve road safety.
With mobility now in phase 2, on the one hand in major cities the bicycle is becoming the most suitable mode of transport to encourage in the era of coronavirus, as some associations have recently called on the government to recognise. On the other, we are witnessing a widespread return to private car use, sometimes justifiable but to which cities such as Milan are trying to find alternatives in order to avoid traffic peaks and emissions. In any case, safety in mobility is assuming an importance like never before. In this spirit, Ford, which has just announced a plan for a gradual restart of production in Europe, is committed to developing new technologies aimed at the safety of drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and road users in general. Among the most innovative ideas dedicated to cyclists is the Emoji jacket, a jacket that, thanks to an LED panel on the back, is capable of displaying — via emojis — not only changes of direction and hazard messages, but also the cyclist's mood.
According to data shared in the European Commission's Traffic Safety Basic Facts, more than 2,000 cyclists lose their lives on roads across Europe every year. "We now live — and drive — in a world where communication is crucial. But too often between drivers and cyclists this comes down to the sound of a horn or a rude gesture. Cyclists usually have to take one hand off the handlebars to communicate. The Emoji jacket uses a universally understood means of communication to show one way in which tensions could be eased — and we all learn to share road spaces better," explained Emmanuel Lubrani, head of the Share the road project. For now the Emoji jacket is still a prototype, from which a definitive version could soon emerge.
Moods, changes of direction, hazard: all the faces of the Emoji jacket
Another Ford idea dedicated to cyclist safety is called Exit Warning and makes use of sensors and technology already found on many of the brand's vehicles. In practice it is a system capable of analysing and detecting the movements of road users approaching the vehicle — whether on a bicycle or an electric scooter — on both the driver's side and the passenger's side. If the system detects that opening the vehicle door could cause a collision, it triggers an alarm to warn the driver or passenger of the danger, while on the outside, LED lights on the wing mirror and door flash to alert cyclists. In addition to this, Ford engineers are also testing a system that physically prevents the door from opening in these situations.
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Among Ford's systems dedicated to driver safety, already available on some hybrid models of the American brand, Road Edge Detection is designed for night-time driving on roads outside urban areas and in generally unlit areas. Thanks to a camera located beneath the rear-view mirror, the system monitors the edges of the road up to fifty metres ahead and seven metres to the side. Where it detects a potential change in the road surface — from tarmac to an uneven surface such as a grassy verge or gravel — the system can intervene on the steering, the stability systems and the headlight illumination.
Still on the subject of road safety in cars: in this case the technology developed by Ford is called Local Hazard Information and moves in the direction of the connected car and the mobility model proposed by smart cities. Already available on some of the brand's models, Local Hazard Information is a real-time hazard alert, capable of informing the driver of potentially dangerous situations before they are seen or detected by the vehicle's sensors. This covers sudden queues, accidents or overturned loads, but also hailstorms or landslides; in such cases the system sends the driver an alert on the dashboard display and verifies that all systems are ready to respond. "What makes this technology different from others is the fact that it is the cars themselves that are connected, via the internet," explained Joerg Beyer, executive director, engineering, Ford Europe. "There is no reliance on third-party apps. This is a significant step forward in trying to help improve every single journey."