New Smartphone Tech To Alert Pedestrians: 'You Are About To Be Hit By a Car'

cartechboy writes "Usually, smartphones are a problem for humans transporting themselves — a massive distraction. But Honda is working on a way to use smartphones to protect pedestrians from bad drivers. The 'V2P' (Vehicle-to-Pedestrian) tech uses a smartphone's GPS and dedicated short range communications (DSRC) to warn drivers when a pedestrian say, steps out from behind a parked car. So the driver sees a dashboard message warning of an approaching pedestrian (which also notes whether said walker is using phone, texting or listening to music — which sort of shouldn't matter as you, uhm, brake.) The lucky pedestrian gets an alert on their phone telling them there's a DSRC-equipped car coming – that's if, say, actually looking at the road isn't telling you that already." The lesson here is to always keep your eyes on your smartphone when you're crossing the street. If you get an alert, stop where you are and read it! Relatedly, there's another phone app in development to help you avoid gunfire.

Re:This how google will get out responsibility for

[Anonymous Coward]

In the Netherlands it is always the car-driver's fault if he hits a pedestrian or a cyclist.

If he can't see a pedestrian coming from behind a parked car stepping into the street he should have anticipated that and drive slower if the visibility is preventing this.

There are some exceptions, like on a highway where pedestrians aren't allowed, but in most cases it is going to be difficult to proof that the car driver was not at fault.