Active Safety Takes Occupant Protection to the Next Level

As experienced drivers and vehicle owners can readily attest, today's vehicles are safer than ever before. Thanks to passive safety improvements like driver and passenger air bags, steel reinforced side beams, innovative seat restraints and frames that include engineered crumple zones, impressive reductions in vehicle accident fatalities have been witnessed.

According to statistics published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in 2005, there has been a dramatic decrease in accident-related deaths over the past 40 years. As the research shows, fatalities were reduced from 1965 through 2005, an era that coincides precisely with the development of most passive safety improvements. Also, injuries have seen a steady decline over the past 20 years.

It would be difficult to argue against the idea that passive safety measures have accomplished what they set out to do - save lives. Unfortunately, drivers still have accidents. In fact, NHTSA data shows that the actual number of vehicle accidents is virtually unchanged from 1988 to 2005. This is where researchers hope active safety technology will have its greatest impact.

Active safety technology product development is focused squarely on the types of products that can have the most impact on accident avoidance. Studies being conducted by the Transportation Active Safety Institute (TASI), located in Indianapolis, have identified "Zones of Greatest Opportunity," which are high accident categories and thus product development targets for active safety technology.

Active safety technology addresses a major cause of accidents: driver error. According to another study by NHTSA, published in October 1999, the majority of accidents occur under benign driving conditions: in daylight, in normal weather conditions and at speeds less than 50 mph. In breaking down the cause of accidents to percentages, 24% of accidents were due to factors such as road conditions, vehicle defects and the driver's physiological state. An overwhelming 76% of accidents were due to a mistake by the vehicle's driver.

Helping reduce the actual number of vehicle accidents is the logical next step in automotive safety, and this is where active safety technology may have a tremendous impact. Building a "cocoon of safety" for the vehicle, with the ability to provide front, rear and side collision avoidance, as well as the technology to monitor the driver's state, is the next technology frontier. And we are already catching glimpses of active safety technology that is either on the road today or well along in the development cycle.

The use of radar is perhaps the most exciting adoption of an existing technology that will drive many active safety systems. Many of these sophisticated systems will be on the road soon, including a new generation of radar sensors used for smart or adaptive cruise control, accident avoidance, pedestrian detection and collision warning. These newest radar sensor systems are designed to enhance performance at a lower cost, making this smart technology available across a larger percentage of vehicles.

Next-generation radar has a wide field of view and provides simultaneous long and medium range capabilities in a single sensor. There are also multi-sensor applications in development that incorporate both radar and visual technology. Radar is used to detect object range and range rate, while vision systems confirm the classification of identified objects such as vehicles, traffic signs, bridges and tunnels. In the rush to meet consumer demand and stay competitive, suppliers tend to be increasingly eager to develop ways to integrate these systems. As an example, the following technologies may involve integration of multiple functions and features on a single vehicle camera to decrease cost and increase functionality:

Lane Departure Warning - A lane tracking system that helps alert drivers when they unintentionally drift out of their intended lane. Using a camera and image processing to detect painted lane markers up to 25 meters ahead of the equipped vehicle, the system determines the vehicle's heading and lateral position in the lane to provide the appropriate warning.

Rain Sensing - A true safety convenience, a camera operates the rain sensing function that activates wipers when moisture is detected on the windshield, with the addition of a small proprietary optical system.

Intelligent Headlamp Control - Another convenience system using a camera and intelligent headlamp control automatically activates the high beams according to lighting and traffic conditions and automatically dims headlights for oncoming traffic and when approaching vehicles from the rear.

Active Night Vision - Active night vision uses near infrared headlamps to illuminate the road scene ahead and displays an enhanced image in the vehicle. This system provides high-beam visibility without blinding oncoming traffic. The system provides more natural looking images to the driver than thermal vision systems and allows non-thermal-intense objects like trees and lane markers to be seen.

Pedestrian Recognition - Again, a camera enables pedestrian detection, a system that detects and classifies pedestrians. It predicts potential pedestrian impact and activates countermeasures to mitigate injuries. Pedestrian protection technologies are gaining much attention in Europe and other countries with densely populated cities.

Road Sign Recognition - An amazing technology that will have a positive impact for all drivers. Using a camera to recognize and read road and traffic signs, the system can alert the driver to varying conditions ahead such as speed limits and no-passing zones.

A reduction in accident-related deaths coincided with the development of passive safety devices from 1995 to 2005. Similarly, as automotive engineers innovate and introduce more active safety technologies to the mass market, another positive trend in automotive safety statistics is very likely on the horizon.