The City of Tampere in Finland and Tieto, a leading Nordic IT services and software company based in Espoo, have developed a solution that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to improve the safety of pedestrians in urban traffic. Global urbanisation increases the number of people on the move in metropolitan areas, but as road traffic increases, so does the risk of accidents, especially at intersections, with the risk of injury and death being especially high for pedestrians. To increase the safety of urban traffic and prevent accidents, the City of Tampere and Tieto have built a pilot system that uses AI and IoT technology to automatically detect when a pedestrian is planning to cross the street at an intersection. Then an alert can be relayed to automatic traffic signs, and in the future directly to vehicles themselves, providing a key building block for connected and autonomous transport. Developed as a part of the Smart Tampere development program's 6Aika CityIoT project, the pilot system has been built in such a way that prevents the identification of individuals or vehicles to comply with the country's strict privacy laws.

A level crossing is an important but often dangerous component of rail infrastructure. To rectify the situation, Slovakian IT company GrowthPro has developed Erriate, an AI-based solution that is able to prevent the accidents at level crossings. A lot of rail infrastructure managers spend huge amounts to make level crossings safer for both car and train drivers, pedestrians and train passengers. Usually, they install barriers, signalling equipment or even video cameras. The digital solutions could be a good supplement to these moves and improve safety at the level crossings.

The Japanese government plans to draw up guidelines for underwater drones by fiscal 2020, reflecting the need for rules to prevent accidents as the use of such vehicles by the private sector is expected to increase, according to sources. Underwater drones, also called unmanned submarines, are used for such purposes as checking offshore wind power plants and underwater pipelines. The vehicles, with electric motors, move under preset programs, collect data and send it to mother ships and base stations through communications using light or sound waves. Underwater drones are also utilized for collecting data on seabeds and their geological features. There are remote-controlled models as well.

Soon, Lyft's self-driving cars could warn pedestrians and cyclists when they're about to cross the street. The ride-hailing giant filed a patent for technology that would display on-screen warnings and other information to other cars, pedestrians and bicycles that it shares the road with. The patent, which was filed April 23rd but made public on Tuesday, describes what Lyft refers to as an autonomous vehicle system. By creating a way for autonomous cars to communicate with others in their environment, it could lead to improved safety once the technology becomes more common in the future. 'Traditionally transportation and related services have been provided by a human-operated vehicle,' the patent states.

Nissan is developing a way to help drivers execute evasive maneuvers faster using brain wave technology, the company announced today. By recognizing whether a driver is about to brake, swerve, or perform some other evasive move, Nissan says that this "brain-to-vehicle" interface could help a car with semi-autonomous capabilities begin those actions between 0.2 and 0.5 seconds faster. The company plans to put this technology on display next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. But details are otherwise light. "It's something that's being shown in a relatively early phase, and is not yet close to implementation," a representative for Nissan said via email.

As cars become smarter, states believe they need to make their roads just as intelligent. Transit planners say'smart roads' will prevent accidents from happening, cut down on travel time and help drivers save fuel. Although a few miles of highway in the US have new technology, states need to learn how roads can communicate with self-driving cars from different makers, as there is no standard on how cars receive data. Transit planners say'smart roads' are key for drivers to get the most from their self-driving cars, like Google's (pictured), as this technology would prevent accidents from happening, cut down on travel and save fuel Driverless cars have been taught to drive more like human motorists in an attempt to help them recognize and respond to risks on the road. And many car makers say their self-driving cars will be safer than those with people behind the wheel and will reduce the 35,000 lives lost to traffic accidents each year, reports The Wall Street Journal. However, for autonomous vehicle owners to fully experience the capabilities of their machines, the roads have to learn a few tricks themselves.