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Won't the issues of safety make it difficult to insure a PRT system? |
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Written by Administrator
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Friday, 09 February 2007 |
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The insurance rate for the first operational Taxi 2000 system will be based on the insurer's estimate of the frequency and severity of bodily injury sustained while riding, attending to, or being in proximity of the system. In today's litigious society, it would not do to rush such a system to completion and to permit the public to ride before it was thoroughly tested. Every reasonable practical precaution must be taken in the design of a new PRT system to assure safety, and there will be an adequate period of testing before opening the system for public use. An extensive series of design features are incorporated into Taxi 2000 both to minimize the probability of failures that may cause injury, and to minimize the consequences of any failure. A remarkable characteristic of PRT is that, because the vehicles are small and light, it is practical to design to assure that no combination of failures can cause injury. The developers of Taxi 2000 are convinced that its system will provide a substantial improvement in both safety and personal security. Obtaining a reasonable insurance rate for a PRT system depends not only on the design features but also on the program of development and testing undertaken before the public can ride. Before building a demonstration for public use, a half-mile oval test system with one off-line station and four prototype vehicles will be tested. Based on the results of the test program, the first real people-moving demonstration will be constructed, tested, and certified for public use before the public will be permitted to ride. Potential insurers will be invited to monitor the test program in sufficient detail to establish the insurance rate.
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