It is commonly said that the most dangerous piece of equipment in an automobile is the nut that holds the wheel, but new technology aims to reduce accidents caused by human error and frailty.
Electronic equipment likely to come increasingly into use in "intelligent" vehicles includes night-vision cameras, distance detectors and fatigue alarms.
"What might have been viewed as science fiction in the 1980s has become reality," said Klaus Machata, organizer of a conference here on road safety and the prevention of traffic injuries, held under the auspices of the World Health Organization.
"Increasingly sophisticated systems are already capable of having a direct influence on the way we drive," Machata added. "For example, detectors hidden in the fender could make a car slow down in the neighborhood of a school, without any action by the driver."
In the case of an accident, an electronic device could automatically issue a distress call and locate the vehicle by navigation satellite.
Machata said electronics could actually take over the car completely if the motorist drives recklessly -- for example, Japanese engineers are working on a system that would deprive the driver of control if he or she changed lanes frequently and without warning.
"Japanese car makers, particularly, are way ahead here," said Fernandes Ralston, an expert on road safety at the University of Sydney in Australia. "It seems to be a heavy trend in the industry."
He said that cars of the near future will include night-vision cameras to detect static or moving obstacles hundreds of meters ahead, detectors to maintain a safe distance between vehicles, and tiredness indicators that set off an alarm whenever eyelids start to droop.
Tests began in Austria last month on a system that combines a palm-sized computer, a mobile phone and navigation software to give drivers advance notice of conditions on the highway. Similar tests have been carried out in Sweden, where 5,000 cars have been equipped with a system that automatically reduces their speed as the approach hold-ups, accidents or road works.
"Even though they will make cars more expensive, these devices have the potential to save lives on the road," Ralston said.
About 1,2 million people die in traffic accidents every year, including 127,000 in Europe, according to figures published during the conference.
"In the long run, these electronic devices will deeply change the way we drive," said Hans-Yngve Berg, of the Swedish road safety organization. "The question is who, the driver or the electronics, will have the last say in a perilous situation. And who will bear the blame if a system goes dead when it is most needed?"
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