1. www.vsrc.org.uk Pete Thomas Professor in Road and Vehicle Safety Vehicle Safety Research Centre Loughborough University, UK A review of ITS and their safety benefits Presentation to ETSC Best in Europe Conference Brussels 21-22 February 2006

2. Casualty reduction n 2010 target of 50% reduction in fatalities n Prime purpose of ITS, eSafety and related initiatives is to reduce casualties on the road n How can ITS functions improve casualty reduction?

3. Where are we now? Pre-crashRoad safety – driver training, road design, roads policing, vehicle performance and maintenance, belt use, helmets CrashCrashworthiness - Restraints, structure design, biomechanics Post-crashRescue – Paramedics training, extrication, hospital provision

4. Vehicles Primary Safety n Conventional vehicle dynamics – braking, handling, cockpit ergonomics etc n Primary NCAP – significant differences in braking behaviour n Vehicle performance varies significantly – need for improved minimum standards

5. Vehicles Secondary Safety n Major improvements in crashworthiness driven by EuroNCAP and legislation n Accident data shows a reduction in fatality rates of drivers of 22% n Passive safety is a mature science n Further big reductions expected from improved compatibility, side impact performance, Pedestrian protection

6. Learning from other transport modes

7. Aviation – the safest transport mode n Crashes are rare n Pilots well trained and monitored n Automatic systems reduce conflicts n Vehicles controlled in position and speed n Heavily controlled and regulated

8. eSafety Initiative

9. EU eSafety Initiative n Development, deployment and use of Intelligent Integrated Safety Systems n Information and communication technologies n Driving technology development n Research funding n Enabling actions (eg waveband allocation, eCall MoU) n Coordinating Member state support eSafety link

10. Integrated Safety on Roads Strong industry led set of projects Provides integrated approach to active safety Total EU investment ~ 250m (50%) Specifies direction of technology development

11. Casualty reduction and eSafety

12. Accident data n Accident data forms the foundation of road and vehicle safety management process n Macroscopic data shows casualty trends n In-depth data supports countermeasure development n Continuous in-depth research into accident and injury causation is needed to identify priorities and develop countermeasures

13. Accident Priorities n Primary risk factors from accident data 1.Speed30% of road deaths 2.Alcohol17% of road deaths 3.Seatbelt 30% of road deaths

14. eSafety Technology Roadmap Priority vehicle based technologies n ESC (Electronic Stability Control) n Blind spot monitoring n Adaptive head lights n Obstacle & collision warning n Lane departure warning Priority infrastructure based technologies n eCall n Extended environmental information (Extended floating car data) n RTTI (Real-time Travel and Traffic Information) n Dynamic traffic management n Local danger warning n Speed Alert

15. Prioritisation of ITS technologies n Based on maximum casualty reduction n Take account of -Numbers of relevant crashes -% reduction of relevant crashes -Confounding factors – especially human factors n No systematic estimates of casualty reduction for ITS

16. How do we evaluate active safety systems? n Problems -No systematic method of assessment -Insufficient in-depth representative data for EU 25 -Countig crashes that didnt occur (near misses, naturalistic driving)

17. Casualty reduction methods n Standard approaches are 1.Engineering 2.Enforcement 3.Education n How is ITS being used to improve these techniques? -Many engineering measures -No enforcement -Little education

18. Gaps in road maps n Intelligent Speed Adaptation n Alcohol interlock n Enforcement technologies n Integrated approach with road safety initiatives

19. EU-level approaches to casualty reduction n Wide range of fatality rates in EU 25 -Some countries need traditional casualty reduction methods -Others need new methods including ITS n Best practise is to have an integrated road and vehicle safety management approach n There are opportunities to improve the coordination of road and vehicle strategies at EU-level

20. Conclusions 1. There are still considerable gains available from improved passive safety 2. ITS has the potential for further casualty reduction 3. Countermeasures should be targeted for maximum casualty reduction 4. eSafety initiatives should be properly integrated within the wider road and vehicle safety context

21. Contact Pete Thomas Professor of Road and Vehicle Safety Vehicle Safety Research Centre Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute Loughborough University p.d.thomas@lboro.ac.uk Attend the 1st SafetyNet Conference & Workshop on European Accident Data and Road and Vehicle Safety Policy Prague May 10 - 11 2006