By Peter Gold
It is my estimation that 100 lives are lost globally each night when individuals open their vehicle doors and are unseen by oncoming traffic. Therefore, the vehicle door itself, when opened at night, is a contributing cause to accidents by not providing a visual warning to other vehicle drivers.
To solve the issue of this contributing cause, I have created a new discipline in motor vehicle safety engineering — Inview Vehicle Trim — that would be universal in application for all vehicles. This new discipline creates what I refer to as a Vehicle Door Accident Avoidance System (VDAAS). To provide the transfer of this new knowledge in this new discipline, I have obtained 15 U.S. patents.
Amazingly, the contributing cause (as mentioned above) is not recognized globally by such major institutions such as the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration, Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, American Automobile Association and others.
Yet, I estimate that since the inception of the motor vehicle, over one million lives have been lost as a result of a vehicle door not providing a visual warning to other vehicle drivers at night.
Additionally, did you know …
• Approximately 60 percent of all vehicle doors having no light or reflectors to allow other vehicle drivers to see the opened vehicle door at night?
• Approximately 40 percent of all vehicle doors having a light or reflector lacking enough intensity to be seen at night at greater distances by oncoming vehicle drivers?
• Approximately 60 percent of all motor vehicle accidents occur at night with the major contributing factor of impaired vision by the oncoming vehicle driver?
In conclusion, my Vehicle Door Accident Avoidance System must be considered and applied by all motor vehicle manufacturers. Most importantly, the protocol at vehicle manufacturers to address this issue must become a priority and an accountability issue that can now be solved economically and immediately, resulting in vehicles of greater design and safety value to the consumer.
All opened vehicle doors should automatically illuminate to be seen by oncoming vehicle drivers, providing a “zone of illumination” as a warning to other drivers, cyclists and autonomous vehicles from 1,000 feet away.
All patents are now available for license to any and and all vehicle manufacturers providing new vehicles in the United States. Please contact: Inview Vehicle Trim Corp., 465 North Wood Road, Rockville Centre, N.Y. 11570.
Peter Gold is the inventor and CEO of Inview Vehicle Trim. For more information, please visit www.inviewvehicletrim.com.
