Motor vehicle crashes remain a persistent threat to public safety.

• Advanced driver assistance systems can monitor and alert the driver when potentially dangerous behaviors are displayed.

As society develops, the number of vehicles on the road increases and the driving environment becomes increasingly complex. Since the democratization of private cars, the world’s fleet has continued to grow, and this increase has brought with it the problem of traffic accidents.

Many studies related to safe driving have been performed. There are some examples include systems such as intelligent transportation systems and advanced driver assistant systems which assist in driving by performing additional safe driving functions.

“According to the statistics of traffic accidents provided by the Korean National Police Agency, more than 200,000 traffic accidents and about 5,000 deaths occur each year in Korea.”

Throughout the early part of the 21st century, the introduction of new in-vehicle technology has increased at a rapid rate and includes driver-assistance technologies such as lane-keeping assist, blind-spot warning, and advanced emergency braking systems.

Advanced driver assistance systems can significantly reduce road collisions and related fatalities by up to 47%. A study based on data from Polish road crashes in 2015 indicated that the wide equipment of advanced driver assistance systems, such as advanced emergency braking systems, adaptive cruise control systems, and lane departure warning systems has the potential to reduce road crashes by 47% when equipped in combination.

Advanced emergency braking systems alone have the potential to reduce the crash rate by 33%. Meanwhile, adaptive cruise control systems alone can reduce the crash rate by 27%, and lane departure warning systems alone by 4% when equipped widely.

 

•  As driver errors are the major contributor to traffic crashes, a continuous effort is being made by automotive companies and researchers to develop advanced driving technology.

Based on WHO data, one of the essential factors involved in the accident is the driver’s factor. Examples of driver factors are driving at excessive speed, being drunk, being fatigued, driving in dark road conditions, poor vision, and vehicle condition factors.

Traffic deaths are a major issue worldwide. Such as, more than 17.6 million passenger cars and trucks were sold in 2016 alone while more than 3.21 trillion vehicle miles traveled were estimated in 2018. It is estimated that 94% of traffic crashes occur due to driver error. These errors are broadly classified into recognition errors, decision errors, performance errors, and non-performance errors.

The World Health Organization indicates that deaths from traffic accidents had increased by 1.35 million people per year. Nearly 3700 people died on the road every day all over the world. Some of the causes of accidents are poor vehicle safety standards, lack of law enforcement, people who are distracted or fatigued from driving, some who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, speeding, and failing to wear seat belts when an accident occurs.

To minimize accidents on the road, WHO has created a technical manual called to save lives, which can be applied globally. The technical guidelines include speed management, leadership in road safety, infrastructure design and improvement, vehicle safety standards, traffic law enforcement, and survival after an accident.

In addition, it is expected that advanced driver assistance systems technologies will perform optimally in all driving conditions, enhancing a driver’s ability to remain in control of their vehicle, or in the event of an unavoidable crash, minimize crash severity.