The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), UK, has suggested in its ‘Intelligent Transport Intelligent Society’ report that collision avoidance technologies for all heavy goods vehicles should be made mandatory by 2015.

According to their report, the collision avoidance technologies can prevent driver ‘blind-spots’, an area not reflected in the vehicle mirror, to make roads safer. Philippa Oldham, Institution of Mechanical Engineers head of transport, said the alarming rise in cyclist deaths on British roads needs to be addressed urgently.

"A number of these deaths could be prevented if technology to prevent driver ‘blind-spots’ were made mandatory for all large vehicles," Oldham added.

"New intelligent transport technologies have the potential to save thousands of lives."

The report also recommends integrating automated emergency response systems into all the new road vehicles within next two years.

In case of an accident, the automated emergency response systems alert the emergency services and provide the exact location of the accident by using the global positioning systems (GPS). An example of automated emergency response system is the European project eCall, which automatically alerts the emergency services in case of serious car accidents.

LATERAL SAFE, developed by the European Council for Automotive Research & Development, is an example of collision avoidance technology which uses sensors to warn the drivers of any obstacles and accident risks present on the rear side.

Other intelligent transport systems mentioned in the report are a lane guide system for lane alerts, autonomous vehicles for using artificial intelligence software, speed proportional steering, vibrating steering and sensors in the front bumper area.

Based in central London, IMechE is an independent engineering society which represents mechanical engineers and more than 100,000 members in 139 countries in industries such as rail, automotive, aerospace, manufacturing, energy, medicine and construction.