Page 01 Oct 28.Indd
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
MONDAY 28 OCTOBER 2013 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside Five takeaways CAMPUS • MES tops from the iPad inter-school quiz launch competition P | 4 P | 12 COMMUNITY • ‘Desi’ Bhangra Night at Doha Marriott P | 5 HEALTH • Memory testing can age older adults in minutes P | 7 FILM • Cormac McCarthy keeps moviegoers guessing in The Counselor P | 8-9 WHEELS • Mercedes GLK 250 is clean break from diesels of the past P | 11 Learn Arabic HANDS OFF • Learn commonly used Arabic words Rising numbers of older drivers being killed or injured in and their meanings accidents may spur demand for self-driving vehicles. P | 13 2 PLUS | MONDAY 28 OCTOBER 2013 COVER STORY By Ma Jie and Masatsugu Horie elf-driving cars being planned by Google and glo- bal automakers may help Scounter slumping demand from younger customers by tapping the fastest-growing demographic in the world’s largest vehicle markets: the elderly. As baby boomers age in mar- kets including the United States and Japan, rising numbers of older drivers being killed or injured in accidents may spur demand for autonomous vehicles. With as many as 90 percent of traffic accidents caused by human error, a key benefit of the technology is boosting safety, executives from automakers includ- ing General Motors and Toyota said at an industry conference in Tokyo last week. “Seniors are often regarded as the victims of traffic accidents, Moritaka Yoshida, managing officer and chief safety technology officer at Toyota, said this month as the company announced plans for automated- driving systems. “However, recently an increasing number of accidents are caused by senior drivers.” Self-driving car Japan, the world’s fastest-aging major economy and the third-largest car market, is at the forefront of the accident trend: of the 4,411 people who died on the road in the country demand boosted by last year, more than half, or 2,264, were 65 or older, according to data from the National Police Agency. “Driver-assistance and autono- mous-driving technologies will defi- nitely help stimulate demand among ageing population the elderly by assuring them driving can be very safe,” Zhou Lei, a senior manager and auto-industry consult- ant at Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting Co in Tokyo, said in a phone inter- view. “What’s happening in Japan will also occur in the US and espe- cially emerging countries like China, and the demand will be huge.” Carmakers are gradually intro- ducing automated-driving systems that may ultimately lead to self- driving vehicles. Mountain View, California-based Google, operator of the largest Web search engine, has been testing driverless cars in the US. Toyota, the world’s largest car- maker, said this month it will intro- duce systems in about two years that will enable cars to communicate with each other to avoid collisions. Detroit-based GM, the largest US carmaker, is planning vehicles by 2020 that will be able to drive them- selves on controlled-access highways. Nissan, Japan’s second-largest automaker, said last month it had obtained a permit to test autono- A car is seen through the windscreen mous cars on public roads in Japan. as a monitor displays the status of the The Yokohama-based company plans Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control to introduce a self- driving vehicle (CACC) technology in a Lexus. by 2020. PLUS | MONDAY 28 OCTOBER 2013 3 “Autonomous driving could be very helpful to people who have physical challenges, or the elderly,” Mitsuhiko Yamashita, executive vice president of Nissan, said at last week’s World Google researchers have road-tested a fleet of seven autonomous cars on Congress on Intelligent Transport the roads of California, covering 140,000 miles between them. The aim is Systems in Tokyo. The rising proportion of accidents to improve motoring efficiency – reducing emissions and doubling road involving the elderly may have more capacity – and halve the world’s 1.2 million road traffic deaths each year to do with aging demographics than driving ability. People aged 65 or older 1 GPS receiver 2 Laser range finder accounted for 16 percent of licensed 2 drivers and 17 percent of the 32,367 Matches position with Rotating sensor scans traffic deaths in the US in 2011, the detailed mapping 5 60m distance through National Highway Traffic Safety 3 Administration said in April. Total stored at Google 360 to generate 3D traffic deaths, including those among data centres map of surroundings the elderly, fell 25 percent from 43,005 5 in 2002. 3 Video camera 4 Position estimator Once involved in an accident, older people are also at greater risk of dying Identifies other Measures smallest because their bodies are more fragile. road users, lane movement of wheel Per mile travelled, fatal crash rates Modified increase starting at age 75 and rise markers and Toyota Prius to gauge position notably after age 80, the main cause traffic signals accurately being greater susceptibility to injury and medical complications, according to the US Centers for Disease Control. The higher percentage of traffic deaths involving elderly in Japan — 51 percent, versus 17 percent in the US — is mainly due to Japan’s older popula- tion, Kazunobu Nagaoka, a researcher at the Tokyo-based Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis, said in a phone interview. With life expectancy rising and births declining, the proportion of Japanese aged 65 or older will swell to 5 6 40 percent by 2060 from 24 percent Radars Inertial motion sensor last year, according to government Three at front, one at rear, Accelerometers and gyroscopes projections. In the US, the number of people aged detect proximity of obstacles determine velocity and direction 65 or older will rise to 20 percent in 2050 from 13 percent in 2010, driven Artificial intelligence: Driver can select either cautious or agressive driving by baby boomers, according to the U.S. style from on-board computer Sources: Google, WHO, DARPA © GRAPHIC NEWS Census Bureau. Their total numbers will more than double to 88.5 million from 40.2 million. “This system will drive old people to only 13 percent of all driving-license ITS World Congress. “It’s kind of a Google’s self-driving technology will see their grandkids and see doctors.” holders last year, compared with 26 tipping point” for the auto industry, help the elderly maintain their freedom Catering to older drivers is becom- percent three decades earlier, police he said. of mobility, said Anthony Levandowski, ing more important to carmakers not data show. That’s a steeper decline None of the automaker executives one of the leaders of the company’s only as the population of elderly grows, than the age group’s share of the at the conference would predict when autonomous-car project. but also as younger people buy fewer population. they may bring fully self-driving vehi- “This technology restores the vehicles. “The younger generation are not cles to the market. It may take longer freedom that people can’t see,” Toyota President Akio Toyoda very interested in driving,” Peter than people imagine, “but each step Levandowski said on October 2 via recently complained that young Sweatman, director of the University along the way will bring amazing ben- videoconference at the Ceatec technol- Japanese aren’t interested in cars. of Michigan Transportation Research efits to customers,” said John Capp, ogy conference in Chiba, east of Tokyo. Japanese in their 20s accounted for Institute, said in an interview at the director of active safety at GM. Klaus Kompass, vice president of safety at Munich-based luxury-car maker BMW, said full automation won’t happen before 2025. He also cautioned against unrealistically high expectations for safety improvements. “We are always talking about, ‘80 percent or 90 percent of accidents are caused by human error,’” Kompass said. “Nobody is talking, surprisingly, about all the accidents that human drivers have avoided.” Nagaoka at the Institute for Traffic Accident Research said that although eliminating accidents completely may be impossible, traffic deaths may become a thing of the past. “Zero fatalities is definitely a feasi- ble target” in Japan, he said. “I would expect we can realize that around 2035.” WP-Bloomberg 4 PLUS | MONDAY 28 OCTOBER 2013 CAMPUS / COMMUNITY MES tops inter-school quiz competition ES Indian School topped the Changanacherry NSS College Alumni MAssociation’s (Chanss-Qatar) Inter-School Quiz Competition held at the Birla Public School auditorium on Saturday. MES (197 points), repre- sented by K Karthikeyan, Deepak Saji Kumar and Ananya Wilso, trailed in the early rounds, but made giant strides in the Rapid Fire round to overtake Birla Public School (195 points) who finished second. DPS Modern Indian School (185 points) were third. While Adithya Divakar Kerkera, Baibhav Pandya and Srivasta Giridhar were the members of the Birla Public School team, Genesh Kumar, Neil Noroma and Chirag Vasisht represented the DPS. Dr Ruble Raj, Principal, Marian College, The winning team from Kuttikkanam, Kerala, was the Quiz Master. The MES with school officials, competition was organised in memory of the late K quiz master and Annie C Varghese, former president of the Indian Cultural Varghese, wife of late K C Centre (ICC) and founder member of the Indian Varghese. Community Benevolent Forum (ICBF), and also an alumnus of Changanacherry NSS College. Chanss also honoured three students -- Sidharth Sasikumar, Anjana Anil Kumar (both BPS) and also bid farewell to its treasurer Prathap Kumar Varghese Mathew, while General Secretary Ajith