Rush Hour Traffic in JapanIn an effort to curb traffic accidents, Japan’s Construction and Transport Ministry will conduct tests on a system allowing cars to “talk to each other”. Though scheduled to begin testing on public roads next month, the system has been in development for several years. The ministry hopes to introduce the system to prevent collisions at intersections and on highways.

Fourteen car and motorcycle manufacturers in Japan have already agreed to participate in the tests, which will be held in four of the most populated prefectures. With the aim of putting the system into play before the end of 2010, there’s not much time to get the bugs worked out.

How Will It Work?

When cars equipped with the DAPS (Driver Accident-Prevention System) approach each other, voice messages and vehicle navigation devices will inform the drivers of the other car’s position, speed and other relevant information. The system will then determine whether there is a risk of collision and issue a warning if necessary.

The tests will check whether the system can work well on public roads and highways, as well as how it affects a driver’s behaviour.

What About Accountability?

It appears that, rather than make drivers more accountable for their piss-poor driving habits, the government wants to add yet another piece of technology to our already over-computerized cars and trucks. How hard is it for a human with two eyes to properly gauge distance and velocity? Should we really be putting more reliance on information displayed at the center console? Drivers should pay attention to the road, not to some sightless apparatus concealed in the dashboard of a car.

I can understand the concerns of the Construction and Transportation Ministry, but I can’t understand why we’re using technology to do something a few bad apples are too lazy to do.

What About Cyclists and Pedestrians?

What worries me the most isn’t the technology itself, but our over-reliance on technology. Should a driver become too reliant on their little computer telling them when it’s safe to pull into an intersection or change lanes on a highway, they will likely forget the basic rules of the road. Look both ways. Check your mirrors. Stop for children. If we train ourselves to make decisions based on audio or visual queues from a computer system, then why not go the full route and let a computer make all decisions for us?

However, this raises the question of how the computer will react to pedestrians crossing the street at night. Or cyclists riding in low visibility conditions. The system doesn’t know about these variables because these people aren’t wearing a portable computer with GPS and communications apparatus. The same can be said about cars manufactured before 2009. For the number of accidents this system might initially prevent, there’s the potential for so many more in the future.

Does this mean that bicycles and shoes should come equipped with tracers as well? Let’s hope not. Just imagine how much fun it would be for kids to throw a shoe across the street and cause 20 cars to hit their brakes in response to a “DANGER!!! CHILDREN!!!” warning screaming from their speakers.

A Better Solution?

Governments typically think that all problems can be solved with money. If they wish to spend taxpayers’ cash on preventing traffic accidents, that’s great. But let’s attack the problem logically. Rather than invest a few hundred million Yen in the Driver Accident-Prevention System, let’s put the money into re-education programs for idiot drivers found to have caused the accidents. I guarantee that after going through a mandatory driver re-education program two or three times, people would either get their act together or otherwise find alternative means of transportation.

What’s your take on this new driver system? Is this just another example of technology being used to compensate for our own laziness?