AEye, Inc., a global leader in adaptive, high-performance lidar solutions, announced its participation in the inaugural Lidar Coalition Policy Summit, taking place in Washington, D.C. A founding member of the Lidar Coalition, AEye is focused on leveraging lidar’s unique sensing capabilities to reduce traffic fatalities – creating a safer and smarter world.
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Just last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration previewed its estimates of U.S. traffic fatalities for 2021. The numbers are disturbing, with 42,915 deaths marking a 10.5% increase over 2020, and the highest number of fatalities on U.S. roadways since 2005. Pedestrian deaths are also on the rise, with 75% of those taking place in low-light conditions, an area where lidar excels.
At the summit, Lidar Coalition members will both educate and advocate – addressing how lidar complements cameras and radar to better address USDOT priorities of safety, equity and accessibility for every member of the traveling public. AEye’s SVP and GM of Mobility Products, Brent Blanchard, will moderate a panel focused on the government’s role in how the technology fits into a safe systems approach, and where emerging technologies, including lidar, fit within public policy. Speakers and panel participants include Congressman Peter DeFazio, chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; Egan Smith, Managing Director of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office; and executives from lidar companies.
“The growing number of fatalities on our nation’s roads is a tragedy that we can and must end,” said Blanchard. “We, as technology innovators and leaders, must leverage the best technology we have to help our cars and infrastructure become smarter, and to prevent devastating crashes before they happen. At AEye, we believe without a doubt that lidar, with its ability to deliver precise measurement and high-resolution imaging across a wide variety of lighting conditions and obscurants, will be critical to advancing road safety.”
AEye’s 4Sight™ Intelligent Sensing Platform utilizes adaptive lidar to improve the probability of detection and accuracy of classification – complementing existing sensors and increasing the speed and accuracy of decision-making. As a software-definable platform, 4Sight facilitates the release of new industry-advancing applications across the scale of autonomy, future-proofing automotive development and paving the way for the software-defined car. AEye’s Tier 1 automotive partners, such as Continental, leverage 4Sight’s modular system design and software programmability to design, manufacture and market their own unique products based on AEye’s patented sensor design and software.