As the electric scooter market is gearing momentum, more interest is arising in this segment globally.
Superpedestrian is a ride-sharing company that has recently raised €114 million. It is now launching a Pedestrian Defense system as its latest USP.
Why Is The Pedestrian Defense System Noteworthy?
This system is highly unique because it will detect and rectify incorrect riding behaviour in real-time, such as:
- Riding on the sidewalks;
- Going in the wrong direction like on a one-way street.
How Does Pedestrian Defense System Work?
So how does this system work? Here is the series of steps that the system follows:
- It takes input from different sensors;
- In case the system detects incorrect riding behaviour it displays a red light on the scooter’s handle;
- If the rider does not correct his behaviour, the Pedestrian Defense system automatically reduces the speed of the scooter and finally brings it to a standstill;
- After this, a message is displayed on the app displaying the reason why the scooter has been stopped.
What Sets Pedestrian Defense Apart From Others?
The following features make Pedestrian Defense unique from other such technologies:
- It detects vehicle position more precisely;
- Senses a wide array of unsafe riding behaviour such as aggressive swerving, stunt riding, hard braking, going in the wrong way or “salmoning” against traffic;
- The system also alerts riders in case they have illegally parked their scooters;
- Real-time intervention to stop or slow down the scooter.
Incorporation Of Navmatics’ System To Help Superpedestrian
Superpedestrian acquired Navmatics last year and this is the first time that it is rolling out such a technology to the market.
Navmatics will be of assistance in this regard as the company can locate vehicles and correct their movements in real-time. This is done through Navmatics’ precise GPS positioning system.
Superpedestrian’s Vehicle Intelligence safety system is a combination of:
- Artificial Intelligence;
- Microprocessors;
- Sensors.
The Navmatics software will be incorporated with this Vehicle Intelligence safety system which will put a check on the wrong practices that some riders adopt.
Which Countries To Initially Get The Technology?
The latest technology from the company will be offered to the LINK electric scooter users, for now, in 25 different European and US cities.
To be precise, these cities will be located in the US and the UK, with a special focus on the ones that are considered pedestrian dense.
Cities Are Becoming More Pedestrian Conscious
With the changing dynamics of modern-day traffic, injuries from scooters have become quite common. This is a major problem for cities and pedestrians.
It is therefore vital to ensure pedestrian safety so that the emission reductions are not at the cost of pedestrian safety.
The administration in such cities now has a zero-tolerance policy for sidewalk riding. This is mainly because riding on such sidewalks can lead to serious accidents.
Cities now have strict requirements for pedestrian safety. Chicago & San Diego have also added anti-sidewalking to their criteria for entering a partnership with ride-sharing companies.
Final Verdict
The latest technology from Superpedestrian will be beneficial not just for the riders but those on foot as well.
This is why, it has put the company in the limelight, lately.
All that most Governments and EV manufacturers want are EV only roads where EV’s can communicate with each other to ensure safe vehicle distances and communicate changing weather and road conditions. EV charging will improve with shorter charging times so these inductive charging lanes will not be necessary. Keep these inductive charging lanes for stationary traffic such as taxi stands and home charging. What will be need to improve navigation during seasonal weather changes will be side of the road navigation beacon’s to aid where telephone and GPS signals can be effected. We are already seeing Motorway rest stops having quick charging stations and that should increase. Back to roads. Better use of water dispersement road technology should be used. Already in roads in the U.K. they have on major Motorway routes this technology where the road surface disperse large the water quicker and the tyre (tire) noise is greatly reduced. Potential we should see with self driving vehicles and improved road infrastructure a much safer driving environment. 👍