‘Active’ vehicle safety most effective, new analysis of accident data shows

Brussels, 15 May 2018 – Ahead of the publication of the European Commission’s proposal for new vehicle safety measures later this week, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) calls for a strong focus on active safety technologies, which can prevent accidents from happening.
Over the past decades, passive safety systems – like pre-tensioned seatbelts, airbags and energy-absorbing crumple zones – have made a major contribution to road safety by limiting the consequences of accidents. Now, active safety measures – like autonomous emergency braking systems or lane departure warning – offer the potential to avoid emergency situations altogether, or actively help the driver to manage them properly without having an accident.
To assess the potential, a detailed analysis of road accident statistics was carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) and Centre Européen d’Etudes de Sécurité et d’Analyse des Risques (CEESAR).
Regarding vision-related accidents with trucks for instance, the TRL/CEESAR analysis shows that active safety measures – using cameras and sensors to increase the driver’s field of vision and to draw attention to the critical area – are some 50% more effective in reducing fatalities than re-designing trucks with low-entry cabs.
Another downside of low-entry cabs is their negative impact on the load capacity of trucks, as they require major changes to the layout of a vehicle. The less transport space a truck has, the more vehicles are needed to transport the same amount of freight, which in turn would lead to an increase in CO2 emissions.
“ACEA welcomes the upcoming revision of the General Safety Regulation,” stated ACEA Secretary General, Erik Jonnaert. “We believe that it should concentrate on safety measures that deliver the most tangible results, while also being the most cost-effective.”
Notes for editors
- ACEA’s Position Paper on the General Safety Regulation Revision can be found here: http://www.acea.be/publications/article/position-paper-general-safety-regulation-revision-2018.
About ACEA
- The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) represents the 14 major Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers: BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ferrari, Ford of Europe, Honda Motor Europe, Hyundai Motor Europe, Iveco Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Renault Group, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen Group, and Volvo Group.
- Visit www.acea.auto for more information about ACEA, and follow us on www.twitter.com/ACEA_auto or www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/.
- Contact: Cara McLaughlin, Communications Director, cm@acea.auto, +32 485 88 66 47.
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About the EU automobile industry
- 13.0 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
- 11.5% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
- €374.6 billion in tax revenue for European governments
- €101.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
- Over 7% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
- €59.1 billion in R&D spending annually, 31% of EU total