Improving vehicle safety is a key Safe System strategy used in addressing international and national road casualty reduction goals and targets for the long-term and the interim. Vehicle safety is a pillar in the Decade of Action’s Global Plan for Road Safety 2011-2020 and in the proposal for the next EU Road Safety Action Programme 2011-2020. In best practice activity, countries actively target improvements in vehicle safety in safety programmes. Vehicle safety addresses the safety of all road users and comprises measures to help avoid a crash (crash avoidance), mitigate the severity of a crash before it occurs through slowing the vehicle through intelligent speed management or advanced braking (crash mitigation) reduce injury in the event of a crash (crash protection) and reduce the consequences of injury (post-crash response). Increasingly, vehicle systems which integrate these objectives are being pursued and which can integrate vehicle and road network interventions (integrated systems). Substantial and evidence-based improvements have been made in vehicle safety the last 20 years. Improvements in vehicle safety design over this period have reduced the risk of death and serious injury for car occupants by 50% or more. Improvements in vehicle safety design and equipment for pedestrians and motorcyclists are expected over the next decade, as are further developments in driver support and assistance. Research has identified large scope for enhancing vehicle safety further although the increasing variety in the vehicle fleet is expected to bring new challenges over the next decade. There is large future promise of casualty reduction from crash avoidance and active safety technologies as long as development is prioritised to maximise casualty reduction. New mechanisms are being put in place to monitor and encourage this. There is significant potential to improve crash protection further. The potential value of developing an integrated approach to vehicle safety, linking preventive, crash protection and post-crash approaches into cooperative systems for drivers, passengers and vulnerable road users as well as vehicle and road network safety systems is being increasingly understood. Effective vehicle safety design results rely upon continuing research and development, understanding of the source and mechanism of injury protection in a range of crash conditions, regular monitoring of performance in real-world conditions, and confirmation that new technologies are used and accepted. Socio-economic appraisal of measures ensure that reasonable societal benefits are derived from new safety designs which cost less at design stage than during subsequent stages of production. (Author/publisher)
Abstract