Some principles of large-scale accident studies related to "active safety" : the need for providing adjusted accident material and the limits of current conclusions.

ON THE BASIS OF THE HUK RESEARCH WITH INDEPENDENT STUDIES RELATED TO "ACTIVE SAFETY", THIS PAPER ATTEMPTS TO REVIEW: (1) THE RESULTS ACHIEVED SO FAR AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH THEY CAN BE COMPARED; (2) CRITERIA FOR SELECTING ACCIDENTS (HOMOGENEOUS ACCIDENT MATERIAL) AND PRESENTING OF THE RESULTS IN KEEPING WITH THE COMPLEXITY OF THE PROBLEM; (3) ELIMINATION FROM THE MATERIAL OF INADMISSIBLE FACTORS WHICH COVER AND INTERFERE WITH THE NORMAL BEHAVIOUR PATTERN OF THE DRIVER-VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM; AND (4) THE NECESSARY NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS FOR STANDARD PARAMETER DISTRIBUTIONS WHICH CAN BE REPRODUCED BY INDEPENDENT MATERIAL WITH THE SAME METHODOLOGY. FINALLY A SYSTEMATISATION OF "CRITICAL ACCIDENT SITUATIONS" IS PROPOSED. THE EXPERIENCE GAINED IN PREVIOUS STUDIES WITH REGARD TO METHODS TO BE ADAPTED AND PRESENTATION OF THE FINDINGS MUST NOW BE COMBINED AND PUT INTO A COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH CONCEPT. THIS WORK SHOULD CONTRIBUTE TO THIS AIM. FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF THE CONFERENCE SEE IRRD 802816.