WG5 Integrated safety including restraint systems

This Working Group 5 is led by DaimlerChrysler and co-lead by Faurecia. Its activities focus on the integration of active and passive safety, promoting Integrated safety. A strong link will be established with the Integrated Safety Programme initiated by EUCAR and the several IP’s linked to that programme.

Interactions will be established with other working groups to formulate requirements for tools and methods, including improved physical and virtual models for the evaluation of ‘smart restraint systems’ and worldwide harmonisation of evaluation tools and methods.

A task force will be set-up dedicated to the monitoring of developments in active safety, but focussing on how these development might influence, or be integrated with, passive safety.

The task force will define a generic framework for the evaluation of passive and active safety systems for road vehicles. The framework tries to close the gap between the social claims, necessities and restrictions, on the one hand, and the technical development and realisation possibilities, on the other hand. For that reason, it defines, checks or discusses requirements, guidelines, rules, norms, standards, regulations and laws. It also proposes technical equipment, tools, systems, procedures and infrastructures that make it possible to prove if concrete safety systems fulfil any of these demands. The evaluation concept comprises specification, modelling, verification, laboratory simulation, practical tests on test tracks and under normal traffic conditions, as well as reliability, availability, maintainability and safety analyses.

The European dimension is necessary for this issue because design, development, production, selling and application of the respective safety systems are not restricted to single companies or countries. They concern the entire European community.

The WG5 work starts with an analysis of existing technologies, systems and facilities of different institutes and companies as well as the legal situation in different countries. Then, it tries to identify gaps, weak points and overlaps. The results are discussed with representatives of automotive companies, suppliers, research institutes, road operators, authorities, associations, experts and valuators. On this base, a generic evaluation concept is designed, recommendations for establishing a distributed European infrastructure are made and proposals for necessary special targeted or integrated projects created.