Abstract
The paper proposes an understanding of accidents as complex events initiated by traffic conflicts. This initiation phase is described by a newly proposed failure tree model, which indicates that a driver error caused by limitations in gaining information, evaluating them and making decisions cannot be excluded. This leads to BMW's assistance concept for improvements in traffic safety, which provides many functions to support the driver where he has a lack of information or acts incorrectly in the case of a critical traffic situation. The highest benefits for driver support are generated when all driver assistance systems are integrated into the innovative, all-round driver support concept "CONNECTED DRIVE".