Vehicle technology is advancing at an incredible pace these days, probably the fastest since the early days of automobiles. The convergence of tech fields such as cloud computing, vehicle tracking, high-resolution optics, and artificial intelligence is causing a renaissance in vehicle safety features!
It’s already common for new features and safety initiatives from the trucking industry to become part of school bus driver safety as well. However, it does tend to take some time, since tech has to be very proven – and more affordable – before school districts will invest. It’s not hard to look into the future and see what may be available 5-10 years down the line.
A Look at Bus Safety of the Future
- No, they’ll never be truly driver-less
It’s pretty well-known at this point that self-driven trucks and buses already exist. Nevada even has some self-driving buses being used as part of their public transportation system. It’s basically inconceivable that school buses would roll out without an adult on board. The day may come where that adult is focused almost exclusively on managing the riders, but they’ll still be there. Even then, that day is undoubtedly many years off.
- Adaptive cruise control
One of the most interesting uses of AI (artificial intelligence) style systems in modern trucks is in their cruise control systems. And this is something that is primed to come to school buses pretty soon. These systems can:
- Use GPS and topographical information to drive smart and save energy while in cruise mode.
- Detect slower-moving traffic ahead and automatically slow down, then speed up when the traffic is clear.
- Detect sudden stoppage from traffic ahead and apply the brakes automatically.
- Combined, these would all be of great use to school districts – improving school bus driver safety and lowering fuel use at the same time!
- Driver drowsiness detection
Here’s another one that can’t come to school buses fast enough: driver head and eye-movement tracking. This allows an onboard computer to detect when a driver is getting drowsy and alert her or him, or – in worst-case scenarios – even automatically pull the vehicle over, should the driver fall asleep.
- Pedestrian and blind-spot detection
Blind spots are a major problem for trucks and buses, but a variety of technologies are addressing the problems. From “smart” AI cameras watching the blind spots to in-cab displays of cameras, it’s becoming easier than ever to spot pedestrians and/or traffic where the driver might not normally be able to see. This is another technological upgrade to which we’re looking forward.
That’s just a few potential technological upgrades for future school buses. What did we miss? What are you excited to see? Let’s talk about it below!