BMW on-board system details accidents

MUNICH, Germany, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- German automaker BMW said it would install sensors in most of its 2009 cars that tell rescue operators the potential severity of crash injuries.

On board sensors will calculate the angle of impact, the speed of deceleration, and whether the crash involved one or a series of impacts, USA Today reported Friday.

The system will then calculate the risk of injury using a scale of 1 to 100 and relay this to emergency responders.

BMW's product analyst manager Peter Baur said the system is being installed in part because 14 percent of all accidents result in a driver's inability to use the two-way communication system.

The information is similar to data provided after an accident by General Motors Corp.'s OnStar system. OnStar President Chet Huber said he welcomed any effort to make cars safer.

At the Center for Disease Control's Injury Center, Richard Hunt, director of the Division of Injury Response, said the goal was to "make sure the (victim) gets to the right place in the right amount of time," the newspaper reported.