Technologies for the prevention of run off road and low overlap head-on collisions

A substantial number of serious collisions occur when a vehicle:
• Runs off the edge of the road way and collides with roadside furniture such as trees;
• Crosses the centre line of the road and collides head-on with an oncoming vehicle.
A proportion of these are very likely to be caused by some form of inattention and/or distraction and several new technologies have been introduced into the market with the intention of preventing these crashes.
Actions to promote the fitment of 'lateral assist' systems are included within the Euro NCAP programme:
• Lane Keep Assist Test and Assesment Procedure for the 2016 rating scheme;
• Advanced Lateral Support System Test and Assessment Procedure for 2018 rating scheme.
The aim of this research was to:
• Analyse the frequency and severity of relevant collisions in order to understand the potential impact of lateral control technologies;
• Characterise crashes to inform the development of performance criteria that will be relevant to the real world;
• Undertake initial research to explore the capability of different technologies;
• Investigate the potential of candidate test procedures that could form part of future assessments.