The umbrella term ‘Intelligent Transport Systems’ (ITS) refers to the use of information and communication technology in vehicles and/or the infrastructure to make traffic safer, more efficient, more comfortable, more reliable and more eco-friendly.
This fact sheet is restricted to in-vehicle intelligent transport systems that (possibly) affect road safety. This concerns stand-alone devices (‘nomadic devices’) such as a smartphones or navigation systems, but particularly integrated devices. The latter are to be found in cars, delivery vans, lorries and buses and – to a lesser extent – in (powered) two-wheelers. A large share of in-vehicle ITS consists of the so-called Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). These are to be defined as systems that contribute to road safety by preventing collisions, or by mitigating the severity of collisions and by assisting in the post-crash phase [1]. They support the driver by preventing unintentional lane departure, by maintaining appropriate headway or speed, by braking in case the driver does not do so swiftly enough or warning in the case of driver fatigue. The way in which this is done may vary between systems and manufacturers.
Different names for systems offering the same kind of support abound. There are numerous abbreviations for advanced driver assistance systems according to brand or implementation. This is hard for consumers and also affects the use of these systems [2] [3]. It also makes it difficult to determine the number of vehicles equipped with these systems (penetration rate) and what their road safety effect is. On the American website mycardoeswhat.org, the 30 most prevalent systems are each explained in a video.
