When hybrid vehicles first were introduced, there was a great deal of concern for the safety of rescue personnel who responded to crashes involving the vehicles.
The problem is a high-voltage cable that runs under the vehicles and connects the battery pack to the motor. This cable can carry as many as 650 volts of power, compared to the 12 volts in a “regular” car or truck.
If rescue personnel cut into that cable in an attempt to remove a person from the vehicle, the results could be fatal.
Fortunately, because of training and automakers voluntarily cladding the cables in bright orange, injuries to rescue personnel has been almost nonexistent.
In fact Toyota, the largest seller of hybrids with almost a quarter million vehicles on the road, reports no injuries to firefighters or police as a result of contact with the high-voltage cable.
Belgium sees ?green wave?
What if traffic signals could adjust themselves to match the flow of traffic? At Vrije University in Belgium, researchers have developed a system that relies on “self-organizing traffic lights.”
They tell News in Science that the system relies purely on “local interactions between cars and traffic lights” to generate “flexible green waves on demand.” Most big city traffic light systems use computers to adjust traffic-light timing, but this system goes even further by making a long series of adjustments to create that “green wave.”
The interesting thing is that efficient traffic flow on one road can lead to increased problems on another by increasing back-ups and hiking the risk of crashes. In addition, if there is a wreck or a break down on a road during the “green wave” cycle, the whole system is thrown out of whack. Of course that would never happen around here, would it?
Give ?em a chance
Dave writes: “I am responding to Alexander who complained that elderly pedestrians need to cross at long lights ? and most are dead anyway. I am not a pedestrian, and I do not live in the city, but I am elderly and alive and kicking.
“I am sure some of the elderly he has seen are like me and served in the military to protect his parents and grandparents. I suggest he think about that next time, it might make it easier on him. Also, when I worked I always left earlier than I had to to get to work.”
Well said, Dave.
I probably should have edited out the off-topic comment. The point that I think was being made was that it takes some people longer than others to get across the street. You?ll notice that the pedestrian timing in areas where there is a large number of seniors or disabled is generally longer.
Maybe a neat idea would be to allow those with special needs to enter a code or swipe a card at “Push to Walk” crossings in other areas that would give them the extra time needed.
Questions, comments, random musings? Write to [email protected].
