New Ford tech aims to avoid railway crossing disasters
Sensors embedded in railway crossings could alert driver of approaching trains via in-car techFord has a fix for the nightmare scenario of cars being struck by trains on unmanned railway crossings thanks to new technology that will alert the driver if a train is coming.
Filing a new patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Ford engineers envisage embedding sensors into the railway track that can communicate with an approaching vehicle.
The sensors will alert the driver if a train is approaching. The same tech can also alert the driver if the train has stopped, is reversing or has not fully exited a crossing.
A second system uses onboard cameras within the car to check for a closed gate, flashing warning lights or a lowered bar that are sometimes missed by a distracted driver.
The sophisticated tech can then communicate the train’s ETA at the crossing to other vehicles, giving surrounding drivers plenty of time to stop.
Emergency vehicles would also be updated on the whether the crossing is blocked, allowing an ambulance, fire truck or police to divert to an alternative crossing or bridge.
Ford sees the new railroad crossing technology as vital for fully autonomous vehicles, which will reduce the need for a human driver to take over at a railroad crossing.
There’s no word on when the train detection system will be carried over, but in the US fatalities on railways is a growing problem, as data from the National Safety Council shows.
Out of the 893 fatalities reported in 2021 (up 20 per cent on 2020) some 26 per cent of all deaths occurred at rail crossings.
Related: Ford Mustang Mach-E to debut hands-off driverless tech
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