Search Results

The turn signal is a vital safety feature that is not only required to be built in as standard equipment on all vehicles, but their use by the driver in everyday driving is required by law. Since not all drivers are diligent at properly actuating turn signals in every situation, the use of the turn signal is less than 100%. However, despite the fact that turn signals are a crash prevention feature, no known study relating to turn signal usage rates is available from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nor from the Department of Transportation, nor from any University, nor from other private safety organizations.

Although some form of turn signals have been on vehicles since shortly after the invention of the automobile, the advancements and improvements in control of turn signals has stagnated for the last 70 years. The Smart Turn Signal adds little or no cost to the vehicle, and is a significant safety improvement that effects all aspects of driving- cars or trucks, day or night, during all seasons, rain or shine or snow, north or south, east or west, male or female, young or old, driver or passenger or pedestrian, city or highway. Smart Turn Signals are a vital link towards the goal of an intelligent transportation system that not only ensures that drivers use turn signals at all turns, but assures that the turn signal is appropriately shut off after each turn or lane change. The Smart Turn Signal also serves to combat distracted driving as well as road rage.

Activation of turn signals for all vehicles is at the discretion of the driver by design and therefore practical on-the-road usage rates are unacceptably less than 100% by all drivers at all times, despite the fact that their usage is required by law. This paper describes a low cost, user friendly on-vehicle system that monitors a driver’s turn signal usage and compares this to measured vehicle dynamics. For nearly all drivers, this system is non-intrusive, but for the driver who repeatedly neglects to use turn signals, then a short duration reminder message is displayed to the driver. Driver’s habits are altered towards automatic use of turn signals, thus improving safety. The system has the potential to significantly reduce overall crash rates.

Documented safety improvements and widespread acceptance of Lane Departure Warning (LDW) Systems have exceeded most safety performance estimates and projections, particularly in the long-hauler fleet truck market. However, current LDW systems have a common weakness relating to interactions with the turn signal. The mechanical turn signal on/off status is the “gatekeeper” to determine if the LDW alerts the driver or not. Incorporating Smart Turn Signals (STS) that use existing vehicle sensors and bus networks in place of the traditional trip mechanism not only improves turn signal performance, but also augments the LDW system to improve its accuracy and performance as well. Although a simple and straightforward concept, the combination of LDW and STS further improves vehicle safety.

The directional turn signal is a vital safety feature, and when properly used by the motor vehicle operator, helps prevent countless collisions every day. As important as this safety feature is, its basic means of shut off control remains virtually unimproved since it was first invented more than 65 years ago. It is a mechanical, closed loop control system that still today exhibits functional circumstances where the turn signal either shuts off prematurely or fails to automatically shut off. This paper describes a patented, intelligent, computer controlled turn signal system with no moving parts that uses existing sensors on the vehicle to decide on a situation appropriate turn signal shut off point, thereby resolving nearly all of the turn signal control shortcomings of today’s mechanical method and improves vehicle safety at a potential overall cost savings.