BMW, along with Mercedes and Volvo, are developing cards with a wide range of technology intended to make driving safer for seniors. BMW’s model is a car that will safely guide itself to a stop in case the driver suffers a heart attack or other medical emergency such as a stroke. This “emergency stop assistant system” will allow seniors to feel safer on the road and reduce the number of accidents caused by health issues.

“Our primary aim is to avoid accidents caused by health-related loss of control – or at least to reduce the severity of such accidents,” Ralf Decke, project manager at BMW. BMW’s senior project is called SeniorSmart.

Mercedes’ “Attention Assist” will warn drivers when they’re nodding off. Volvo offers the City Safety technology, which uses lasers and radar to detect an approaching collision and helps to slow the vehicle. This helps to avoid or minimize impact or collision.

But the smartest car yet is still being developed by BMW. They are attempting to make a car that has an “electronic driver” who can take over in the event of an approaching accident or if the driver can no longer drive. The car will use sensors to determine if the driver can no longer drive and will begin to slow the car down, activate flashers and guide the car to a stop. The car will also notify authorities of the location.

This brings a whole new meaning to SmartCar.

Unfortunately last fall a group known as the National Quality Forum, rejected the call for a scan 45 minutes after a stroke wording that the rule to do so would raise too many questions. The cost for such scans is one of the main reasons the stroke treatment was rejected. The Obama administration is trying to cut healthcare costs and this procedure is considered costly and unnecessary.

On the other hand, stroke neurologists are angry by the decision to reject this procedure. They believe that the rejection threatens to compromise stroke care all over the country which can possibly result in more deaths among stroke patients.