If there is an appeal to self-driving cars it is that it can eliminate some of the mistakes that human drivers make, which in turn can potentially lead to reduced traffic congestion and also less accidents. However until self-driving cars become mainstream and approved for commercialization, Volkswagen is already making some strides in the safety department.
The company’s Volkswagen Arteon is set for a release in the US this coming summer and one of the highlights of the car is its safety features, which has the ability to help save a driver and prevent an accident should it detect that the driver might have fallen unconscious. This system is dubbed Emergency Assist 2.0 and will rely on existing safety programs such as Adaptive Cruise Control, Side Assist, Lane Assist and Park Assist to work.
What happens is that if the car detects that the driver has not touched the gas, brakes, or steering wheel for a certain amount of time, it will attempt to wake them up with visual, audio, and even physical cues such as tapping on the brake. Should nothing happen, the car will then switch its hazard lights on and steer itself to a nearby lane.
This isn’t the first time that carmakers have explored the idea of how they can help drivers and those around them should they pass out in the car while it is moving, but come this summer you will actually be able to get your hands on a car that has such features installed.
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