Among other systems:
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Adaptive cruise control (ACC), which helps keep distance from the smart car ahead thus avoiding rear-end collisions, could save up to 4,000 accidents in 2010, even if only 3% of the vehicles were equipped.
- Lateral support systems (lane departure warning and lane change assistant) could save 1,500 accidents in 2010 given a penetration rate of only 0.6%, while a penetration rate of 7% in 2020 would lead to 14,000 fewer accidents.
- ‘Hypovigilance systems’ for sleepy drivers could play an important role in avoiding 30% of fatal crashes on motorways and 9% of all fatal accidents.
- Other systems like “speed alert”, “alcohol-lock” and “charging systems” can also have, under certain circumstances, an important impact on cleaner, safer and more efficient transport.
Solutions are not only focused on-board vehicles: improved software and real-time traffic data in urban traffic control centres could lead to better traffic management and achieve a reduction of up to 40% in traffic standstill and congestion, thus resulting in considerable energy savings. Solutions exist and they are getting better, cheaper and more reliable.
Market Take-up of Intelligent Vehicle Systems Despite their potential, most intelligent systems are not yet on the market, and when they are large-scale deployment has taken a very long period of time due to severe problems. Safety innovations tend to start from the top end of the market, in luxury smart car, and take a long time to ‘trickle down’ to the mass market. More than 20 years after the introduction of ABS, for instance, some cars still lack it. ESP systems took 10 years to achieve a market penetration of 40% in new cars in Germany.
And ACC still has a very low penetration rate more than 25 years since its introduction.
There are many reasons for this slow take-up. Legal and institutional barriers, the extremely competitive situation of the automotive sector, the relatively high cost of intelligent systems and the consequent lack of customer demand all contribute. Most of all, there is a lack of information throughout society about the use and potential benefits of these systems.
A recent survey by EuroTest, a European motorists’ organisation, showed that only half the drivers surveyed were familiar with existing basic in-vehicle technologies providing active and passive safety. Only 50% of them, for example, knew the features of the anti-lock braking system that is now fitted in almost all new vehicles.
A Call to Action
These are European problems and need European solutions. Bottlenecks to market implementation need to be removed,
product demand needs to be stimulated, and consensus needs to be built among key players.
The European Union has a particular role in ensuring interoperability and harmonising technical solutions through a
comprehensive European approach.
In addition to standardisation, public authorities have a special function in the implementation of the appropriate infrastructures, including intelligent features that make the most of co-operative systems currently being developed. They also play a role in targeted actions enabling the wider deployment of intelligent transport systems.
Further action in research and development is also needed, to build upon the major investments in intelligent vehicle technologies made under previous European Research Programmes. It is also important to maintain European industry
competitiveness towards Japan and the US where similar research programmes exist.
Assessing the Impact of Intelligent Vehicle Systems With so many different types of intelligent safety systems available, and so many variables in how systems are used, we need to be able to assess their impacts and benefits.
The SEISS study analysed the socio-economic effects of intelligent safety systems in road vehicles. A survey of current approaches was undertaken to assess the impact of new safety functions, and a methodology was developed to assess the potential impact of intelligent safety systems in Europe. Factors influencing socio-economic benefits were identified, such as improved journey times, reduced congestion, infrastructure and operating costs, environmental impacts, medical care costs, etc.
The project resulted in estimates of expected benefits and costs for a range of market deployment scenarios.
Building on this work, a follow-on project, eIMPACT, is assessing the socio-economic effects of Intelligent Vehicle Systems (IVS) to determine their future market prospects. It is identifying the most promising stand-alone and co-operative IVS technologies; developing scenarios for IVS for the period 2010 – 2020; and assessing the impact of IVS on traffic safety and efficiency in these scenarios. Policies to enable the implementation of IVS are also being
addressed.
The output will be an assessment of the socio-economic impact including a picture of the costs and benefits for the stakeholders and the macroeconomic effects.These results will contribute directly to policy development at European and national levels, and will be actively disseminated through workshops, conferences, newsletters and brochures.