This is your car talking –this traffic jam is killing you

I really don’t do traffic well.

If the car is moving, I am okay, but as soon as the highway turns into a festival for snails, trouble brews.

I yell, scream and generally wind myself up as I contemplate arriving LATE, (in my world a very unacceptable practise), so as the car’s temperature rises, so does mine.

Your car gives you a check up

I am sure my car already knows how I am feeling, since around about this time I either beat the living daylights out of the steering wheel in frustration or try to wring it’s neck, as the grip become tighter.

But now technology will allow the car to talk back.

Scientists from Technische Universitaet Muenchen have found away to monitor your vital signs on the road. The team have integrated a sensor system into the steering wheel, the beauty of the system is that it is compact enough to be included in a standard car and the driver doesn’t need to wear ANY wires.

So your car will be able to confirm, not only its own temperature rise, as it stands motionless idling on the highway, but the car will be able to track your physiological response. The car will monitor your heart rate, skin conductance and blood oxygen saturation levels.

Listen this is your doctor car talking

And best of all, if your physiology suggests a meltdown is happening, the car will be able to intervene.

If the car feels the situation is starting to look “unhealthy” – it will be able to turn the radio off and block phone calls, forcing you to concentrate on driving.

If the response to this intervention does not restore “health”. The car will be able to thoughtfully take away the keys and alert authorities of your imminent demise by turning on the hazard warning lights and activating an automated emergency braking system.

I should imagine, in the case of a traffic snarl up, I will rapidly progress to having the authorities dispatched , since the physiological response will spiral out of control once the entertainment i.e. radio and phone is rendered out of order.

The traffic health check

Jokes aside, a system like this could save lives and make driving safer for everyone, since being safe on the road requires a fit car and a fit driver.

BMW plan to introduce this nifty technology into their luxury models.

If like me, the odds of driving a BMW are slim and none – don’t fret. Cutting edge technology like this, will trickle down to the ordinary car over time. So your future car will be able to contribute to your overall well being by keeping tabs on your health numbers, instead of just contributing to making you fat.

Driving with a purpose

You car will allow you to

keeping tuned into what is happening in your world through listening to the radio
touch base with friends and family as you chat on the phone
do lucrative business deals via your Blackberry and
have a quick health check, without the hassle of hanging around at the doctors rooms

What a multitasking marvel ! Isn’t science and technology great.

Integrated Systems for distraction-free vital signs-measurement in vehicles. Automobiltechnische Zeitschrift, 11/2011. Lorenzo T. D’Angelo, Tim C. Lüth.

Interested in learning more about keeping your chemistry balanced in the face of traffic jams and other stresses ?

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