One of the first things said in the driver's education course I took in high school was that the automobile had killed more Americans than all wars combined. Ironically, several factors have made commercial flight a much safer mode of travel, and these factors can also be applied to improve the safety of road travel.

One immediately noticeable difference between motor vehicles and aircraft is the tremendous real-time information infrastructure, though aging and overburdened, which has been developed for both the pilots and the air traffic controllers. Although it would not be practical to apply this level of situational awareness to every car and truck on every street, an enhanced communications system could improve the effectiveness of first responders at the scene of a traffic accident. Designers can learn about one potential way to develop such a system in this issue of Defense Electronics in an article from Ubiquity Software. Specifically, the article discusses how session initiation protocol might be used to implement a centralized and comprehensive communications network for fighting forces.

Another major difference in the favor of air travel is the superior physical infrastructure to accommodate all phases of operation from taxiing to refueling to collision avoidance. In the second article, contributed by Carmanah Technologies Corp., it is shown how solar-powered LED lighting for airport runways and warning signs can make this infrastructure even safer, including the retrofitting of existing passive reflectors at remote airstrips. Solar LED warning lights are also becoming a favorable option for improving the safety of many remote highway intersections with flashing warning lights.

Perhaps the least-obvious contributor to the safety of air travel is the careful engineering practices applied to aircraft design and construction. Even the interfacing of high-reliability cables and connectors is critical, and this specific topic is addressed in the third article, from Calmont Wire and Cable. To complement this engineering effort, older aircraft are frequently inspected and, in many cases, retrofitted in programs similar to that for the C-5M Super Galaxy modernization program.

As an engineer, I can imagine the retrofitting of older passenger cars with a simple piece of equipment that plugs into the 12 V outlet, which would make a pre-recorded E911 call (requiring no service provider subscription) in the event of a jolting impact or rollover. This is a capability that already exists in some cars equipped with GM's OnStar system.

Earlier this month, I was personally confronted with the aftermath of a rollover accident. I was on my way to work when a man crossed the road before me. Shocked, I looked back to see that the man was headed for a truck at the bottom of aravine. I pulled over, got out and followed. The man had already called 911.

All the windows in the truck had been broken, and the roof was collapsed. (I learned later the 1987 model truck, though upright, had rolled several times.) There was only the faint light from distant street lamps, but from what could be seen there did not appear to be anyone in the driver's seat. We moved around the front of the truck to the passenger side, where we soon realized the driver, Steve, was partly through the windshield. I leaned into the cab and began to speak to Steve, and to pray. He was carried away alive by the medics, but died nine days later in the ICU. I saw him there, along with his family. I never had the chance to meet him because he was frequently sedated, yet we became brothers.

Steve usually wore his seatbelt, but for some reason he was not wearing it that day. Regardless, had he not been seen by the man who had called 911, he probably would not have survived as long as he did, since the driver's side had been crushed.

Engineers have enhanced the safety of new vehicles with features based on advanced electronics. The remaining task is to develop safety technology that can be retrofitted to older model cars to make them more safe as well.