‘Buckle Up’ – A Technology To Prevent Injuries And Death When A Traffic Accident Occurs

Background

Every year, more than 1. 25 million people worldwide died due to traffic accident. Between 20 and 50 million more people suffer injuries, with many incurring a disability. In the United States, which is one of the busiest countries in terms of road traffic with nearly 264 million vehicles registered and 218 million drivers holding a valid driving license. The level of traffic is one of the many reasons which has leads to more traffic accidents. In America, of the 37, 461 people killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2016, 48 percent were not wearing seat belts. Even though only 9. 9 percent of Americans do not make it a point to use their seat belts, those non-users make up a significant 48 percent of the casualties in car accidents.

Problems

The primary reasons why passengers fail to buckle up is that they simply forget on occasion or they are in a hurry and not have time to buckle up. In addition to that, while more cars now have a beeping sound to alert drivers and front-seat passengers to put on their seat belts they do not have that for rear-seat passengers. Even with the beeping sound to alert drivers to put their seatbelts on, they still have a choice not to do it. Therefore, a device or product is needed to ensure that passengers will always wear their seatbelts as reminding is simply not enough. This will minimize the likelihood of injuries or even death when a traffic accident occurs.

Solution

The proposed product, ‘Buckle Up’ aims to ensure that all passengers onboard vehicles will wear their seatbelts. ‘Buckle Up’ consists of a steering wheel lock device, a receiver in the steering wheel and a detector which detects whether the seatbelt is fastened or unfastened. If any of the seatbelt in the vehicle is unfasten, no signal will be sent from that detector to the receiver. In the event when the seatbelt is fastened, the detector will send a signal to the receiver in the steering wheel. After all the seatbelts in the car have been fastened and the receiver has received signals from all the detectors fitted inside all the seatbelts within the vehicles, the receiver will send a signal to the steering wheel lock device to unlock the steering wheel and the driver will be able to move off.

Benefits

‘Buckle Up’ ensures that all passengers will always fasten their seatbelts by locking the steering wheel of the vehicle and making sure that the driver remind his passengers to put their seatbelts on, unlike the current system built in cars which only alert drivers and front-seat passengers to put on their seat belts. It forces them to buckle up even though they are in a hurry, do not feel that there is a need to buckle up or simply forget about it. Overall, ‘Buckle Up’ will greatly increase the safety of a road user.

Conclusion

As the world population continues to grow, the number of vehicles on the road will continue to rise, so will the number of traffic accidents. ‘Buckle Up’ cannot help to prevent traffic accidents but it can reduce unnecessary injuries or loss of lives due to traffic accidents. It forces the passengers to fasten their seatbelts and be in a secured position before the vehicle moves off. Therefore, with ‘Buckle Up’, drivers and passengers alike will always fasten their seatbelts, and this will further ensure their safety and more importantly, their lives.