This paper presents the results of research started in 1989 by PSA Etudes et Recherches in associaton with the joint PSA/RENAULT Accidentology and Biomechanics Laboratory and INRETS. The research has been undertaken within the framework of the European PROMETHEUS research programme, aimed at improving the effectiveness and safety of road traffic. The overall objective of the study is to quantitatively understand the process of accident generation and the resulting sequence of events. The aim is both to create countermeasures, and be able to validate their performance by using simulation techniques. The method of implementation comprises three stages: (1) Prioritise the work objectives by producing categories of serious accidents, clearly by representative in percentage, and homogeneous in terms of their mechanisms. This is done through a statistical survey; (2) reconstruct and analyse a small number of real accidents in detail; and (3) determine the malfunctions in terms of the vehicle and the driver's behaviour or the infrastructure, and imagine actions, and their timing, which could have been taken to prevent the accident. The paper describes and illustrates these stages.
Samenvatting