EDR trigger for the detection of motor vehicle collisions with vulnerable road users (82.0755)
An event data recorder (EDR) describes a technical component in motor vehicles that records information relevant to traffic accidents before, during and after a collision. The technical requirements of the US Code of Federal Regulations (CFR 49 Part 563) shape the current technology. According to the specified triggers, almost all vehicle collisions with vulnerable road users or other "minor" collisions are not recorded. Currently, the technical requirements of EDR are being discussed and developed in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Among other things, agreement has already been reached on a new trigger that leads to the recording of accident-relevant information in the event of the activation of a passive protection system for vulnerable road users - for example, a pop-up bonnet. However, these systems are only marginally represented on the market, so that a significant subset of collisions with vulnerable road users is not recorded. The aim of this research project is to develop and validate one or more EDR triggers that enable the detection of on-board collisions between a category M1/N1 vehicle and an unprotected road user (primarily pedestrians and cyclists). The trigger must be able to differentiate whether an accident event or a special driving dynamic event is present. The latter shall not be recorded in the EDR.
GIDAS 4.0 Further development of the survey (5221000)
Road safety has reached a very high level in Germany in recent decades. The German In-Depth Accident Study (GIDAS), which has now been running for more than 20 years, has made a significant contribution to this. The findings and results obtained from this survey are continuously fed into the further development of road safety measures via the BASt and also serve as a basis for new vehicle safety and assistance systems. However, new technological developments and mobility concepts as well as social trends will influence the parameters in the field of road safety in the long term. Just a few examples of this are increasing electrification, automation and connection. In order to be able to continue to assess the effects on road safety in advance via research and development and to initiate measures at an early stage, adjustments are also required in the collection and evaluation of data within GIDAS. To this end, GIDAS is being revised both in terms of content and methodology. In particular, new modules will be added to the project so that current and future questions can be answered. In addition, the competences in the areas of infrastructure, psychology and medicine will be strengthened. Among other things, the results of specifically initiated research projects will be used for this purpose. The goal is to continue GIDAS in its new orientation from 2023. Thus, GIDAS is and will remain the essential data basis for the project's financiers, the BASt and the Research Association for Automotive Technology (FAT).
Development of a thoracic impactor within a thoracic testing procedure (82.0741)
In pedestrian accidents, the thorax is one of the most relevant body regions besides the head and the lower extremities in terms of injury severity and frequency. This fact is not taken into account in the pedestrian test procedures described within the current Regulation (EC) Number 78/2009 on the protection of vulnerable road users. For this reason, the EU project SENIORS has carried out initial basic research towards the definition of a component test alongside the development of a suitable impactor. The project resulted in the general feasibility of a thorax component test, but also revealed the need for further developments such as the development of a biofidelic thorax impactor. The test procedure developed in the EU project SENIORS needs to be refined - and a biofidelic impactor to be developed for implementation within legislation as well as test protocols for consumer protection requirements. Furthermore, the current test and assessment procedure needs to be modified accordingly. The new thorax impactor is expected to make a significant contribution to improving road safety by injury mitigation during vehicle to pedestrian accidents.
OSCCAR (5218003)
The EU Horizon 2020 research project “Future Occupant Safety for Crashes in Cars” (OSCCAR) addresses the assessment and improvement of safety for vehicle occupants involved in future accidents with highly automated vehicles. Highly automated vehicles will permit new and more comfortable seated positions (swivel seats and even reclining positions). Furthermore, collisions with highly automated vehicles also lead to other accident scenarios and therefore different types of burden on vehicle occupants. Innovative occupant restraint systems will be necessary so as to continue to protect all vehicle occupants as best possible: belts, airbags and new seat concepts. The principles for these new and innovative systems are to be elaborated in the OSCCAR project. Furthermore, traditional crash test dummies are no longer suitable for the development and evaluation of these new protective systems particularly in new collision scenarios. One alternative could be numerical human models. These virtual models are a possible foundation for the virtual testing of highly automated vehicles. The further development and improvement of these virtual test and development tools is another main objective of the project so as to be able to meet the future requirements of vehicle safety derived from vehicle automation (www.osccarproject.eu).
Evaluation and improvement of the biofidelity of impact properties and the ability to predict injuries to the chest of numerical mannequins for new impact scenarios (5217003)
Different numerical mannequins exist to improve the safety of road users as vehicle passengers and also the safety of unprotected road users such as pedestrians and cyclists. To facilitate the assessment of the consequences of accidents and injuries using these models, they must have a near-human impact behaviour and it must be possible to predict injury in terms of the body regions to be assessed. The thorax has been shown to be a particularly vulnerable body region both for vehicle passengers and for unprotected road users. The biofidelity of the mannequins in pedestrian and cyclist impact scenarios has not so far been investigated adequately, however. The same applies to the use of mannequins as vehicle passengers in new accident scenarios which result from self-driving vehicles, such as sitting diagonally or to the side or in reclined positions which will increase in the future. The aim is to improve on those suitable mannequins which are available.
Benefits and Risks of Automated Driving: Road Safety, Transport Efficiency and the Environment (5415005)
So far, no sound scientific research findings exist on the benefits and risks of automated driving. This research project therefore focuses on the impact of automated driving on road safety. Other factors will also be considered, including changes in fuel consumption/CO2 emissions and transport efficiency.
SENIORS (5215004)
European countries face great challenges because the demographic structure in the EU is changing rapidly. Meanwhile, the mobility needs of the elderly are also changing. Maintaining a driver’s licence is an important issue of independence today, both for males and females. Also technological developments like the introduction of e-bikes enables access to other means of transport. While accident data show a decreasing number of fatalities and serious injuries on EU roads, recent data from the ERSO show an increasing proportion of elderly in the fatality statistics. This trend is a serious threat to the achievements of recent decades and poses a challenge that must be addressed to meet goals set for further reduction of road fatalities. Furthermore, there is an increasing rate of obesity in EU populations, which introduces changes in injury patterns and risks. The SENIORS project focuses on the protection of elderly and obese road users also by transferring nowadays younger generations’ safety standards. The overall goal is to improve the passive vehicle safety by adopting test tools, test procedures and test assessments from legislation and Euro NCAP. Hereby, various computer simulations and experimental testing will be used to ensure the scientific background for decisions.
Gathering Information at the Scene of Accidents (92.1002)
Official road accident statistics only offer limited scope for acquiring information on the causes of accidents, accident sequences and the injury mechanisms in road accidents. It is possible to close this gap by having survey teams document traffic accidents on a regional basis using strict scientific principles. In order to arrive at conclusions with the broadest possible relevance, the regional surveys must allow for a scaling process for the entire Federal Republic. To achieve this, scientifically-based procedures have been developed which enable data to be extrapolated to the whole of the Federal Republic using source data from Hanover. The accident data will be collected in a shared database. This project seeks to gather and evaluate these accident data for the survey years 2015-18.