At least, that seems to be the safest route, if some amazing test results from a study into teen driving and accident prevention are any indication.

The test involved an in-vehicle data recorder (IVDR) system that monitors unsafe driving events, such as sharp turns, heavy acceleration and abrupt braking. Originally developed by GreenRoad, a San Francisco firm that specialises in trucker safety, the system takes this information and “grades” the driver. Red, yellow and green lights inform drivers how well they are driving at any given time.

The system sounds pretty simplistic, but the data suggests something remarkable. In those cars with the system, dangerous driving events were cut in half.

Impressive, but we imagine angsty teens will still find some way to complain about “the man” and mum and dad’s snooping. Fortunately, there’s an app for that. The system is accelerometer-based, and the software could easily make the jump over to smartphones, said Swedish engineer Per-Olof Svnesk in an article at New Scientist. You’re already secretly looking at your kid’s mobile phone anyway, parents, so why not install a safety app in there while you’re at it? They may even think it’s cool, so no snooping necessary. [New Scientist]

And half think it should have the same penalty as drunk driving. Steeeep.

What’s fascinating is that while 80 per cent think phones should be a no-no, they deem it kosher if you’re going hands-free. Newsflash, morons, a bunch of studies show it’s just as distracting if you’re using a Bluetooth headset. It’s the conversation that’s distracting, not your hands being up near your head. Personally, I think we should also ban eating, drinking, using combs or makeup, overly talkative passengers, any kind of music, talk radio, GPS navigators, and small children from being in cars, period. Only then can we drive completely safely, since then we won’t ever be distracted by anything ever again. [NYT]

In other words, AIDA is like your highway helper. A robot pal you can bond with on those long lonely trips. Kind of like a naggy, whiny version of Kitt.

To identify the set of goals the driver would like to achieve, AIDA analyses the driver’s mobility patterns, keeping track of common routes and destinations. AIDA draws on an understanding of the city beyond what can be seen through the windshield, incorporating real-time event information and knowledge of environmental conditions, as well as commercial activity, tourist attractions, and residential areas.

“When it merges knowledge about the city with an understanding of the driver’s priorities and needs, AIDA can make important inferences,” explains Assaf Biderman, associate director of the SENSEable City Lab. “Within a week AIDA will have figured out your home and work location. Soon afterwards the system will be able to direct you to your preferred grocery store, suggesting a route that avoids a street fair-induced traffic jam. On the way AIDA might recommend a stop to fill up your tank, upon noticing that you are getting low on gas,” says Biderman. “AIDA can also give you feedback on your driving, helping you achieve more energy efficiency and safer behaviour.”

Oh, and did I mention that it emotes with facial expressions? I have plenty of relatives that are perfectly willing to bitch about my driving as it is. On the other hand, maybe AIDA will qualify as an additional passenger on transit lanes — then maybe it can tag along.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — MIT researchers and designers are developing the Affective Intelligent Driving Agent (AIDA) – a new in-car personal robot that aims to change the way we interact with our car. The project is a collaboration between the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab, MIT’s SENSEable City Lab and the Volkswagen Group of America’s Electronics Research Lab.

“With the ubiquity of sensors and mobile computers, information about our surroundings is ever abundant. AIDA embodies a new effort to make sense of these great amounts of data, harnessing our personal electronic devices as tools for behavioral support,” comments professor Carlo Ratti, director of the SENSEable City Lab. “In developing AIDA we asked ourselves how we could design a system that would offer the same kind of guidance as an informed and friendly companion.”

AIDA communicates with the driver through a small robot embedded in the dashboard. “AIDA builds on our long experience in building sociable robots,” explains professor Cynthia Breazeal, director of the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab. “We are developing AIDA to read the driver’s mood from facial expression and other cues and respond in a socially appropriate and informative way.”

AIDA communicates in a very immediate way: with the seamlessness of a smile or the blink of an eye. Over time, the project envisions that a kind of symbiotic relationship develops between the driver and AIDA, whereby both parties learn from each other and establish an affective bond.

To identify the set of goals the driver would like to achieve, AIDA analyses the driver’s mobility patterns, keeping track of common routes and destinations. AIDA draws on an understanding of the city beyond what can be seen through the windshield, incorporating real-time event information and knowledge of environmental conditions, as well as commercial activity, tourist attractions, and residential areas.

“When it merges knowledge about the city with an understanding of the driver’s priorities and needs, AIDA can make important inferences,” explains Assaf Biderman, associate director of the SENSEable City Lab. “Within a week AIDA will have figured out your home and work location. Soon afterwards the system will be able to direct you to your preferred grocery store, suggesting a route that avoids a street fair-induced traffic jam. On the way AIDA might recommend a stop to fill up your tank, upon noticing that you are getting low on gas,” says Biderman. “AIDA can also give you feedback on your driving, helping you achieve more energy efficiency and safer behaviour.”

AIDA was developed in partnership with Audi, a premium brand of the Volkswagen Group, and the Volkswagen Group of America’s Electronics Research Lab. The AIDA team is directed by Professor Cynthia Breazeal, Carlo Ratti, and Assaf Biderman. The SENSEable City Lab team includes team leader Giusy di Lorenzo and includes Francisco Pereira, Fabio Pinelli, Pedro Correia, E Roon Kang, Jennifer Dunnam, and Shaocong Zhou. The Personal Robots Group’s technical and aesthetic team includes Mikey Siegel, Fardad Faridi and Ryan Wistort as well as videographers Paula Aguilera and Jonathan Williams. Chuhee Lee and Charles Lee represent the Volkswagen Group of America’s Electronics Research Lab.

[MIT]

(Or you don’t.)

Because while the GPS detector, complete with 1.6-inch OLED screen, provides you with a constant look-out for one of 6000 stoplight and speed trap cameras (in the US and Canada only), the privilege also costs $US20 a month for the data subscription (after a free year) on top of the $US200 you’ll pay for this device in the first place.

Plus, even though the system is technically using GPS, it doesn’t look like the detector doubles up as a turn-by-turn navigator.

You know a cheaper solution? Restraint. You aren’t Jack Bauer; you’re just a few minutes late to pick up eggs at the shops. It’ll be OK. [Hammacher Schlemmer via navigadget]

If the hat determines the driver’s condition to be risky, it relays a warning signal to a computer screen in the cab (and possibly mobile phones as the image above illustrates) recommending rest. Apparently, trials of the hat are being credited with reducing fatalities for drivers at CRC Mining from 40 in 2007 to 27 in 2008. Now CRC is hoping that their technology can be made available to all drivers sometime in the near future. [Metro]

According to subpoenaed cell phone records “Riccardo Blas Rivas II had been sending text messages to a friend just before the May 23 crash”. That crash resulted in the death of 32 year old Tracy Cate.

The incident is incredibly sad, but it may turn into an example of how harshly the courts are willing to punish careless idiots who decide to text while driving. Based on what we’re seeing, it may be months, possibly even years, before Rivas’ case goes to trial and gets wrapped up, but let’s hope the charges stick. Don’t wuss out on me now, Florida. [Naples News]

Another idiot roams the world in his speeding car. The world being the squarish state of Arizona. This guy has avoided 37 tickets totalling $US6700 using a monkey mask. Still, not a match to Animal in Germany. [Thanks gitemstevedave]

I don’t know how it calculates the numbers. Maybe it’s just a speed display, maybe it uses some logic to come up with the accident bills costs or the chance of a crash. I do know, however, that people respond to fear more than to fines. 46 days in the hospital won’t be fun at all, so grab your steering wheel with both hands, and please drive safely. [Direct Daily]