THE UNITED STATES RESEARCH SAFETY VEHICLE PROGRAM HAS BEEN COMPLETED. TECHNICAL DATA ON SAFETY PERFORMANCE OF TWO RSV DESIGNS ARE AVAILABLE. THESE DATA SHOW THAT THE CRASH PERFORMANCE OF THESE VEHICLES EXCEEDED THE PERFORMANCE OF CARS AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET AND THAT THE AGGRESSIVENESS OF THESE RSVS TO OTHER ROAD USERS WAS LESS THAN PRODUCTION CARS. STEERING AND HANDLING PERFORMANCE WAS NOT IMPROVED OVER PRODUCTION CARS ALTHOUGH SOME OTHER ADVANCED CRASH AVOIDANCE FEATURES WERE SUPERIOR. CONSUMER INTEREST IN "SAFE" CARS WAS EVIDENT IN MARKETING STUDIES. PROGRAM MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS WERE MAINLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION OF CRASH AVOIDANCE REQUIREMENTS, THE LACK OF RESOURCES FOR A FULL DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM, AND THE INABILITY TO TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY TO THE MARKET PLACE.(A) FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF THE CONFERENCE SEE IRRD 802816.
Abstract