i2010 - Intelligent Car Initiative

Source: EU Intelligent Car Initiative and pdf report. 

Research indicates that human error is involved in over 90% of accidents, and in almost three-quarters of cases the human error is solely to blame. As an example, a recent study concluded that if we have an accident when driving at a speed of 50 km/h and we could brake half a second earlier, we could reduce the crash energy by 50%. But an analysis of German accidents showed that 39% of passenger vehicles and 26% of trucks do not activate brakes before a collision, and some 40% do not brake effectively, underlining our limits as drivers.

Information and communication technologies (ICT) provide new intelligent solutions that contribute to solving the key societal challenges posed by road transport.

What Causes Accidents? Overall, road safety has been improving in industrialised countries over the last 30 years, showing that political willingness and the application of countermeasures produce results. For example, according to one recent report between 1980 to 2000, in three of the countries with the best road safety records, fatality trends had decreased dramatically, due to:  

1. Passive safety measures: 15% to 20%  
2. Safety belt wearing: 15% to 20%  
3. Drink-driving countermeasures: 15% to 20%  
4. Specific measures for vulnerable road users: 30% to 40%
5. Actions targeting the Infrastructure: 5% to 10%  
6. Education / training / communication: 7% to 18%. 

Despite these fatality reductions, road safety remains a major societal concern. Although car manufacturers in particular have gone to great efforts to improve their vehicles’ passive and active safety over the past 15 years, road safety research shows that existing measures are reaching a ceiling in most countries. Preventive and active safety should now be brought to the fore.

The EU’s TRaffic Accident Causation in Europe (TRACE) project aims to update the knowledge achieved so far about the causes of road accidents and has evaluated the effectiveness of technology-based traffic safety countermeasures.

Imagine a world where cars don't crash...


40,000 people die every year on Europe's roads and many more are injured.

Fortunately, advanced information and communication technologies (ICTs) can now be incorporated into onboard "Intelligent vehicle systems", offering new solutions to today’s transport problems. These high-tech systems have great potential to:

• help drivers prevent or avoid traffic accidents
• mitigate the consequences of accidents that do occur