If there were enough life jackets on Titanic - most of them could have survived.
Or would they?
were those life jackets efficient to save peoples lives?
Cut to 2020 and we still hear of people drowning in rivers as boats capsize.
I am writing this article in context to Indian scenario, here passenger safety comes on last priority.
How do we solve this problem?
are life jackets so expensive that it cannot be provided to every individual who boards a ship/boat? Who is asking them to be provided for free anyway? cant these businesses rent it out for a small fee? or better make it part of the ticket fee and make life jackets mandatory for every passenger?
are people (passengers) so negligent towards their own safety?
are these so hard to be sourced?
or they are so lamely designed that people just dont want to have them on?
So if I were to redesign the life jackets, here are few things I would focus on
1) functionality - must keep the person afloat - head up - so the person can keep breathing
2) ability to swim - the design must enable even a non swimmer to swim around easily
3) visibility - must have reflectors n led lights - making it easily visible in dark
4) good looking - people must look forward for having a selfie wearing it (that way, they would not bother paying few extra bucks to rent/buy them)
5) whistle - would help raise alarm for help
some next gen features -
6) sos enabled - sends out SOS signal to nearest police station and National SOS center that tracks people who need urgent help
7) gps enabled - tracks location and sends it out with sos signals
well these features will make them expensive but definitely attract attention of adventure enthusiasts, can be made available on rent by ferries
While i was pondering on thoughts of swimming I thought why not build something that helps non-swimmers swim effortlessly and thats where all this thing about life jackets started..
thanks for reading. let me know how would you build the next gen life jacket..