Technology

Drivers Tend To Kill Pedestrians At Night. Thermal Imaging May Help.

Yes, I need more incentives to kill pedestrians.

What if we reduced the size of cars, reduced speed limits and created cities and towns that are safer to walk in

In IIHS’ latest tests of car headlight systems, fewer than half (43%) earned a good rating. [...] “Vehicles that earn a good rating for visibility in our tests have 23% fewer nighttime pedestrian crashes than those that rate poor.”

That's a lot of room for improvement without new technology.

People could also wear something other than black clothes when they go outside at night.

hmm thermal imaging in cars.... or just more public transit and street lighting..... give me the expensive capitalist hellcreating thing

This has been a thing for decades now at least in Mercedes (S & E) and BMW (5+).

And it's not just the camera alone, car headlights have a special projector that selectively illuminates pedestrians (or just does a double flash at them). Works as intended, but few people opt for it ... and gov are still not mandating it (like automatic breaking).

ITT: "What was the victim wearing at the time? Was the car acting in self-defense? Do cars have qualified immunity? Did the pedestrian pose a threat or instigate the car? Were they wearing their officially state-sanctioned Pedestrian uniform and helmet? Did the pedestrian have any pre-existing conditions?"

Oh good, anything to help me kill more at night!

As a pedestrian, this is why wearing high viz/lighted clothing at night is so important.

this is gonna be super bad for lizard people 😱

People often don't help themselves either. I remember this time, I was driving on a country road in the fog. Suddenly I saw my foglights light up a dog walking in the road. So I drove around, then as I got closer I saw a man walking this dog, dressed all in black, on an unlit country road, walking away from traffic, in dense fog.

If he made it back home alive, it's purely down to luck (or his dog being seen before him again).

Anything but slowing down when it's difficult to see ahead. We'll just victim blame dead pedestrians, deer and raccoons for wearing dark colors at night.

Like the case with the paintball guy a few years ago. Someone was driving on a road in the woods at night when he suddenly hit a guy - dressed in dark camo, face blackened, etc, anything not to be seen - who came running out of the woods onto the road. He was a paintballer being persued by members of the opposite team. The car took him out of the game, though.