The company’s 2024 Mustang models will include an Exit Warning to prevent drivers from hitting cyclists when opening their doors.
Carmaker Ford is introducing a new feature that warns drivers if a ‘vulnerable road user’ is nearby when they try to open their door on its 2024 Ford Mustang models. As Ron Johnson explains in Momentum, the exit warning is designed to prevent drivers from ‘dooring’ cyclists or scooter riders. “Notably, this technology remains active for up to three minutes after the ignition is turned off, continuing to provide alerts through the instrument cluster and touch screen.”
The feature is a great idea. “Why stop there?” Johnson asks. “Dooring incidents, according to one report, represent more than 15 percent of bike collisions and the potential for serious injury or death is high. The question for Ford is if this technology exists, and it can protect vulnerable road users to a certain extent, why not make it standard?”
Johnson reminds readers that, in lieu of an Exit Warning system, drivers can prevent dooring by using the ‘Dutch Reach’ method—opening your car door with the opposite hand, which slows you down and gives you the opportunity to turn and ensure there are no oncoming cyclists.
FULL STORY: Ford’s New Exit Warning Feature is a Start but Why Stop at One Model?
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Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research