Vaisala raises weather warning with ITS industry and auto makers

Vaisala’s chief scientific officer, Dr Kevin Petty, is a man on a mission. He is here at ITS America 2016 San Jose to tell exhibitors, speakers and delegates that they must make provisions for the effects of weather on transportation. “In the US, there are 5,000 fatalities on the road each year due to weather-related factors,” he said, adding: “If weather conditions are not taken into account, the full benefits of connected and autonomous vehicles will not be realised.” He is excited by the prospect o
June 15, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Kevin Petty of Vaisala
144 Vaisala’s chief scientific officer, Dr Kevin Petty, is a man on a mission. He is here at ITS America 2016 San Jose to tell exhibitors, speakers and delegates that they must make provisions for the effects of weather on transportation.

“In the US, there are 5,000 fatalities on the road each year due to weather-related factors,” he said, adding: “If weather conditions are not taken into account, the full benefits of connected and autonomous vehicles will not be realised.”

He is excited by the prospect of connected vehicles as data collection probes for road conditions and the potential to convey weather related information to or between vehicles but says: “Weather is such a big factor in road incidents, but when I go round the exhibitors’ stands I don’t see evidence that its effects are being taken into account in the products and services on display.

“Human drivers instinctively slow down when visibility decreases or grip deteriorates but if autonomous vehicles do not, this could expose them to potential problems in the rain, snow, fog or simply darkness. So it is imperative that the ITS industry and vehicle designers begin to factor in weather-related effects and to use the information that is or can be made available.”

Related Content

  • How ITS weathers the storm on I-80
    September 7, 2021
    Weather-related closures on Wyoming’s I-80 can cost as much as $11.7m each. But a new initiative is harnessing V2X technology to prevent snow shutting things down
    Read More
  • After two decades of research, ITS is getting into its stride
    June 4, 2015
    Colin Sowman gets the global view on how ITS has shaped the way we travel today and what will shape the way we travel tomorrow. Over the past two decades the scope and spread of intelligent transport systems has grown and diversified to encompass all modes of travel while at the same time integrating and consolidating. Two decades ago the idea of detecting cyclists or pedestrians may have been considered impossible and why would you want to do that anyway? Today cyclists can account for a significant propor
    Read More
  • Too safe for safety’s sake
    October 22, 2013
    In-vehicle systems are making huge advances in vehicle safety with the introduction of ABS, collision avoidance, adaptive cruise control, lane departure alert and blind spot warning… the list goes on. But at the same time accidents are still happening and arguably getting bigger. A look at a list of multi-vehicle (30 - 300) accidents across Europe, North and South America and parts of the Middle East shows that the trend is increasing with 2013 already having witnessed seven such incidents – three of which
    Read More
  • Preventing connected vehicles creating disconnected drivers
    November 12, 2015
    Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are evolving at a rapid pace – but drivers’ ability to cope with them is not and at some point the mismatch must be addressed. Probably the biggest challenge the transportation industry has ever faced.” That is how Dr Bryan Reimer of Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab describes the challenges posed by semi-autonomous vehicles.
    Read More

Highlighted Content