BMW Crash-Severity Algorithm Analyzes Potential Injuries

It looks like BMW has been making the news quite a bit lately what with their app that analyzes your driving patterns to help build a better EV of tomorrow and now it looks like thanks to their algorithm that has been built into their cars, whenever a crash occurs, the car is able to analyze the severity of the crash and report the potential injuries to rescue teams who will then be better suited to handle the situation.

Currently there are several brands of cars where upon a crash a telematics system will call 911 for the cars’ passengers but BMW takes it one step further by taking the details of the crash, running it through their crash-severity algorithm and report those findings to 911 or rescue teams and based on the findings the algorithm will help decide if police support is more suited, or perhaps a ambulance or in tricky situations perhaps even a helicopter would be best suited for the job. The algorithm also analyzes what possible injuries could have been sustained in the crash and sends that along with its report which allows for rescue teams to arrive on the scene with the appropriate equipment or to be better prepared, and in critical situations wasting time getting the right equipment could spell the difference between life and death.

Peter Baur, manager of product analysis at BMW of North America describes how the algorithm would work:

“The car senses the severity of impact, the angle of impact, multiple impacts (crash and rollover), which airbags deployed, and whether the occupants are belted”

Dr. Jeffrey S. Augenstein, a professor of surgery at the Lehman Center further expounds on the value of such a feature by adding that the interpretation of the crash data could indicate that the injured victim may be suffering from internal injuries even though they may feel fine and are walking about normally, but could actually be bleeding to death internally. So if you’re looking to get a new car and you just can’t seem to justify the price of a BMW, perhaps this may change your mind.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Concepts, Gadgets, Transportation
Tags: accident, bmw, emergency, features