Driving and teenagers… That is one combination that seems to give sleepless nights to both authorities and parents alike. Yet, it is also one issue that is constantly overlooked and not attended to as well as issues such as DUI in the last few years. Car crashes are the leading cause of death among teenagers in the UK today and with one-third of all accident related deaths across the globe involving those between the age group of 16 and 19, monitoring is a key issue indeed. Oren Musicant, an engineer at Ben-Gurion University in Israel has come with a nice and simple new method to keep this hazardous problem under check; at least to some extent.

In-vehicle data recorders (IVDRs) have been used by officials in the UK recently to monitor the driving patterns of teenagers and this data clubbed with new software has been used in developing an IVDR that lights up according to the driver’s performance and the degree of safety that is being followed. Green red and yellow LEDs are placed on a dashboard-mounted box and they constantly glow giving the driver an indication of the danger involved in his current driving style. So any sharp turns or undue acceleration and the red instantly lights up!

Researchers claim that this has shown positive results in tests while others still question its effectiveness. When you already know that going over the speed limit is not safe and consciously do it, will the red lights on the dashboard really stop you? A question that only time could answer…

newscientist