Soft Car Maximum Speed Control and Indication System Supporting Mobility of an Aged Society

-The Post Growth Oriented Society of the 20^th Century Perspective-

Abstract

The most serious problems of mobility in an aged society, in which the transportation system is heavily dependent on automobiles and roads, are the difficulties elderly people face in retaining mobility and the severity of car crashes. The issue of car crashes affects all generations worldwide. Yet, often-discussed policies related to revitalizing public transportation and vehicles for the elderly are not viable in existing car-oriented transportation systems.

An important policy in this context is to install mechanisms for controlling maximum speed into existing cars. The author has been conducting the Soft Car Project to discover a way to implement this policy, while researchers in Europe have conducted trials of Intelligent Speed Adaptation toward the same goal. In spite of academic and administrative discussions, adoption of this policy seems to require extensive time and effort. In the meantime, the author conducted small-scale trials evaluating speed control that may lead to appropriate policy implementation through consensus.

This paper describes the concepts and research related to this issue from the perspective of “Post Growth Oriented Society of the 20 th Century.”