R&D needs
The European automotive industry has contributed significantly to the safer use of roads and safer vehicles through continuous improvements of active and passive safety. Collision mitigation systems (e.g. airbags, pre-tension of safety belts and energy absorbing car bodies) have been developed and successfully introduced into the market. Active safety systems like electronic stability control, collision warning systems, adaptive cruise control and lane departure warning systems support the driver on European roads of today.
Further reduction in serious and fatal accidents on European roads cannot be achieved with improvements to vehicle design or the deployment of in-vehicle telematics alone. To successfully deliver safe and sustainable mobility, an integrated approach is needed that takes into account the driver, vehicle manufacturers, road infrastructure designers, owners and operators, ICT service providers and policy makers.
With the high level of safety already built into the vehicles of today, the automotive industry will concentrate its research and development efforts on preventive safety systems of the future. In particular R&D is needed in the fields of:
|
Further development and integration of active on-board systems to support the driver and avoid or mitigate collisions
|
|
Co-operative systems for interaction and exchange of safety relevant information between vehicles and the infrastructure
|
|
Virtual systems for more efficient development of safety features
|
|
|
ICT based security products and services
|
Graphic: Visualisation of biofidelic human body modeling used for simulation of advanced protection systems
|
Graphic: Effectiveness of active safety measures, e.g. ESP
