Chicago Tribune Jim Mateja Column
By Jim Mateja, Chicago Tribune
Dec. 4–THE LATEST SNOOZE FROM VOLVO: It happens to all of us.
The eyelids start to get heavy and no matter how you fight it, they close.
It’s one thing to doze off in a meeting with the boss, but another entirely when you are behind the wheel of a car with or without the family in tow.
Volvo, which pioneered roll stability control in its XC90 sport-utility vehicle, has come up with Driver Alert, which will sound a beep if fatigue gets the best of the driver and he or she starts to nod off at the wheel.
Volvo spokesman Dan Johnston said the system being tested in Europe is expected to be offered in select Volvo vehicles in the U.S. and Europe within two years.
Ford, which owns Volvo, adopted the latter’s roll stability control in several full-size sport-utility vehicles. That system uses a gyroscopic device to sense tippage and prevent it. Ford is expected to borrow Driver Alert as well.
Volvo said National Highway Traffic Safety Administration figures provided the motivation for the system — 100,000 vehicle collisions and 1,500 fatalities caused each year by drivers who fall asleep.
That’s drowsy, not drunk.
Some cars today set off a warning beep if you cross the center lane without using the turn indicators.
Volvo says this system is more sophisticated. Rather than monitor the driver, it monitors the vehicle using a host of on-board sensors linked to a computer processor as well as a camera behind the rearview mirror to continuously measure the distance between the vehicle and the markings — center lane and shoulder — on the road.
“It looks at driving repetitiveness and whether you are weaving between the lane markings. If you weave momentarily, there’s no warning beep, but if you show a consistent pattern of weaving, it will beep a warning a minute before your eyes actually would close,” Johnston said.
But will motorists accept the system? In addition to the warning, it gives the driver a safety rating in the message center in the dash: five stars for consistently good driving, fewer the more you weave or veer and set off the beeps.
Many people object to the use of “black box” technology in some cars that can report how fast you were going before an impact and whether you were belted or not. Objections would probably be even more heated if a record was kept of just how often and how far you weaved — and nearly fell asleep at the wheel.
Dr. Wolfgang Birk, project manager for Driver Alert, said Volvo will “continue to test and fine-tune the system” until it is offered to customers.
PINCHING PENNIES: How serious is Ford about saving money?
It has come up with a new process for assembly plant paint shops to convert fumes into electricity to help power the plant. At the same time, it will treat sludge created from paint overspray to produce insulation for its vehicles. Cost savings: $7 to $11 per vehicle at Ford’s Michigan truck plant, where it was just installed, and millions annually once three other plants start using the new process soon.
RUMOR MILL: There were rumors a while back that Ford would drop the Freestyle crossover.
The Detroit News now reports that Ford is considering phasing out the seven-passenger Freestyle produced at its Chicago assembly plant and using the same platform for a long-promised crossover called the Mercury Magellan. The move would give Mercury its first unique vehicle since the 2002 Cougar coupe.
Ford won’t comment.
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