The future of vehicle safety and sustainable transportation

Starting out from an analysis of accident causes, the presentation discusses the benefit of currently available driver assistance systems such as lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, braking guard and lane change assist. Assistance systems are juxtaposed to preventive safety systems, and the concept of integrated safety is explained in the light of the functionalities offered in the new Audi A8. The development of integrated safety systems brings forth new challenges. The importance of accident research, its standardization and the need of an interface to computer simulations is highlighted. The benefit in safety of preventive systems and an approach to an unbiased and objective assessment of its effectiveness is presented employing pedestrian protection as an example. Future trends in sustainable transportation will certainly evolve electric or hybrid vehicles. Challenges of high voltage component safety and the need of global regulations are emphasized. Sustainability is also accomplished with the democratization of safety features, which are first introduced in premium vehicles and subsequently made available in the volume segments. Future trends will also be marked by the car2x-technology, offering excellent opportunities both for comfort and safety functionalities. (A) Paper and presentation to the Keynote Session of the 4th International Conference on ESAR Expert Symposium on Accident Research, 16th to 18th September 2010 in Hannover. For the covering abstract of the conference, see ITRD D366702.