Automotive

The holiday season is the time of the year when impaired and drowsy driving accidents are most prevalent. Many of us would never imagine that a holiday celebration could result in a fatality or imprisonment.  The risks associated with driving while drowsy are very real.  Driving performance can be impaired, reaction times increase and it could result in tragic consequences for everyone involved. The Drowsy Driving Problem Drowsy driving usually happens when a driver has not slept enough, but it can also happen due to drinking alcohol, untreated sleep disorders, [...]

Introduction Optalert has responded to the NTC's recent discussion paper "Clarifying control of automated vehicles" with the following submission...Our understanding of the discussion paper “Clarifying control of automated vehicles” is to resolve issues of control relating to automated vehicles. Determining who is in control, what it means to have ‘proper control’ and how it will apply to automated vehicles, and the interaction between enforcement agencies and automated vehicles. In clarifying these issues there will be greater certainty with road rules, traffic laws and accident and insurance liability and risks. We [...]

Have you heard the term “the quantified self”? It’s a phrase used to describe the movement of incorporating technology to acquire data on a variety of factors that make up a person’s daily life including diet, mood and performance. We’ve become almost obsessed with tracking and analysing a variety of factors in our lives and allocating a name to this obsession has made it far more legitimate. The quantified self can also be referred to as lifelogging, self-tracking, or body hacking. The key to the quantified self is not only [...]

For as long as road travel has existed, so too have road accidents. Consequently, actions have been taken to improve safety and reduce the risk of a road injury or fatality. Could autonomous vehicles be the largest impact on car safety we have ever seen? It looks likely. Road safety has been continuously evolving. From road signs and indicators to seatbelts and traffic lights, the end goal has always been to improve safety. We recently published a blog post that takes a look back through the history of road safety; [...]

First, we had breath tests to test Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). Then, we had saliva swabs to test for illegal drugs. Now, we could be seeing a test for drowsiness that completes the roadside test trifecta. Roadside drowsiness testing has rapidly become a popular discussion topic across social media, due to a recent announcement that Victoria Police and the TAC would welcome this in their arsenal against road injuries and fatalities. The effects of drowsiness on our roads In a world first, Victoria Police, and the Traffic Accident Commission (TAC) [...]

When describing Optalert’s products to customers, I often use the word preventative along with ‘predictive’, ‘real-time’ and ‘anticipatory’. It is these words that set our technology apart from others. One word I seldom use is ‘responsive’. While we might appreciate the latter in terms of something that responds quickly to a need or error, all too often ‘quickly’ simply isn’t fast enough. There is a real difference between responsive technology and preventative technology. Definitions Let’s start with a few simple definitions: Responsive: (adj.) In response; reacting quickly and positively Preventative: [...]