Inattention has been lauded as one of the biggest killers on the road for some time now.
The definition of inattention is when your mind leaves what you are doing. Maybe you answer your mobile phone, you sneeze or you just look to find where the lights are to turn them on. Inattention is that moment when you are not looking for just a tiny moment in time. The consequences of it can be deadly.
Although the dangers of speeding and drink driving have been taking the headlines for many years, it’s inattention that is third in the line when it comes to causing death on the road. With drink driving causing up to 15% of all road fatalities and driving too fast at 13% – you’ll find inattention at a very close 12%. In fact, inattention could even be involved in the careless driving that comes in at 10% and the 8% that fatigue causes.
So what can we do about inattention? Some may feel that it’s just something that comes along with being a human, whereas the WA RAC don’t feel this. They’ve put their brains together with Emotive, a neuro-engineering company to come up with the first car that is powered, or actually de-powered by inattention.
WA have got the worst road toll in the country, and the RAC felt that they had to do something about it in order to help save some of the lives that are being needlessly lost each year.
Enter the Attention Powered Car. A vehicle that will monitor whether you’re paying attention or not. If you’re not then it will automatically slow down. This works with the help of 14 sensors in a headset. These sensors detect what electrical activity is occurring in specific areas of the brain that are involved in concentration, focus and attention. Once there is a drop in these areas, the headset will communicate with the car to slow down.
What do you think of that! We really are heading towards the space age!
Jason Squire is the founder of Autoscreens, the family owned mobile auto glass business he started in Perth in 2010. He brings more than 35 years in the automotive trade across the UK and Australia, beginning with an apprenticeship in vehicle bodybuilding and vehicle conversions. His qualifications include a Grade A Vehicle Body Building Certificate and a GQA Level 2 NVQ in Automotive Glazing. Jason is a certified repairer licence holder with DMIRS, and Autoscreens holds Motor Vehicle Repairers Licence MRB3703 for windscreen repairs and windscreen replacement across Perth.
