Intersection Assistance Tech Shows Big Promise for Older Drivers
June 16, 2022 - To gain a better understanding of how available and upcoming crash avoidance features might help, IIHS researchers used federal crash data from 2016-19 to compare the types of crashes that are most common for older drivers and their middle-aged counterparts.
“Left turn assist and other, upcoming intersection-assistance technologies could deliver big safety benefits for drivers in their 70s and 80s,” says the paper’s author, IIHS Research Associate Aimee Cox.
Another planned feature called intersection movement assist would allow vehicles to warn drivers of possible collisions with others approaching a crossroads from multiple directions at various speeds and with different intentions.
Ensuring Future Resiliency: How to Prepare Your Business’ Equipment Financing for an Uncertain Future
By Anthony Sasso, President, TD Equipment Finance (TDEF)
Businesses and financial institutions are continuing to pay close attention to the Federal Reserve, which recently raised its benchmark short-term interest rate by 0.5%, marking the largest increase since 2000.
While there are many factors outside of our control, business owners can take key steps now to prepare their businesses for future uncertainties, so they can feel confident, no matter what the future holds.
As Software-Defined Vehicles Rise, Big Brother Isn’t the Only One Watching
June 15, 2022 - The massive amount of data software-defined vehicles collect about us is bound to be a headache for consumers, an ethical dilemma for automakers and third-party companies, and a target for bad actors.
If a car scanning your face and fingerprint seems alarming, it pales in comparison to the privacy risks autonomous vehicles bring to the table. A robust autonomous vehicle suite likely includes radar, lidar, cameras, precise GPS data, and a high-speed internet connection. Less scrupulous actors can use this info to figure out a driver's home and work addresses, habits, demographics, and more.
Even as automakers and suppliers take privacy seriously, some third parties don't appear to. Automotive data monetization could be a $750 billion business by 2030, and a slew of companies have popped up since then in an attempt to grab a slice of that pie.
eDriving Launches Non-Telematics Version of Mentor Driver App
The newest addition to the Mentor family of driver safety apps, Mentor Insight offers many of the same tools to help improve driver behavior, including risk assessment, predictive driver scoring, eLearning, manager coaching, and gamification, but without telematics-based monitoring of driver behavior behind the wheel.
This makes Mentor Insight ideal for those companies not yet ready to navigate the privacy concerns that often accompany a full-scale implementation of telematics-based safety applications, as well as companies that may have a telematics solution in place but would like to leverage Mentor’s additional feature.
One such feature is an integrated Personal SOS function with Emergency Response Services powered by Bosch and Sfara. Available in more than 50 countries, the Personal SOS alert can be triggered by drivers to request assistance if they feel unwell or concerned about their safety at any time, in any place.
EV Prices See Big Jump in Recent Days
June 17, 2022 - While prices of vehicles have been on the rise for much of the past two years, the check a buyer writes for an EV is substantially larger than the one they cut for an average ICE vehicle. The average mass market vehicle costs a little more than $43,000 while the average EV’s price exceeds $60,000.
While gas-powered vehicles are seeing prices increase as well, they’ve been pretty small on average in recent months, coming in at 1% or 2%, but EV price increases have been double digit hits. The reason is pretty straightforward.
“The costs of the components and materials that go into building our vehicles have risen considerably. Everything from semiconductors to sheet metal to seats has become more expensive,” said Rivian founder and CEO R.J. Scaringe in a statement at the time of his company’s price increase.
