V4SAFETY

Project summary

The proposed method will deal with the safety of all road users, from vulnerable road users to vehicle occupants. V4Safety will provide a prospective safety assessment framework that can handle a large variety of safety measures, ranging from in-vehicle safety technology, new vehicle types, infrastructure solutions to regulations that influence road user behaviour.

It includes methods to project the results in future scenarios and over EU regions for use by policy makers, authorities and consumer organizations. V4Safety strives for comparability of results of safety studies by not only providing the framework but also guidelines for using it. The guidelines show how to select, configure and connect relevant human, vehicle and environment models; how to select a baseline approach and how to project to a conclusion to different regions of interest in the EU. Moreover, the framework will also allow projections for future scenarios, incorporating possible changes in the mobility system. To understand differences between studies and to understand the influence of underlying data, assumptions and models, the method provides tools to characterise the influence of the determinants. Combined with a well-defined baseline approach – what to compare to? - the resulting transparency and consistency in simulation-based safety assessment leads to much improved comparability and reliability of assessment conclusions.

Main project objectives

The main objective of V4SAFETY is to provide a comprehensive procedure for conducting computer simulations to determine the long-term performance and impact of road safety solutions, from the identification and collection of the relevant input data to the projection of the results to a region of interest (e.g., the EU) and a prediction of changes in performance and impact that might be expected in the coming years. The procedures come with guidelines on the application and a demonstration on selected use cases. The following objectives are distinguished, with an explanation on how the objective is achieved according to the V4SAFETY work packages, and an indication on how V4SAFETY intends to verify the success of the project:

• Objective 1: Objective 1. A widely accepted and harmonised predictive assessment framework for road safety
• Objective 2. Clear guidelines to ensure that models and simulation components properly address the behaviour of drivers, vehicle occupants, and VRUs
• Objective 3. A methodology to capture and describe scenarios that accurately represent the baseline
• Objective 4. Clear guidelines for models and simulation components to properly address different types of safety solutions
• Objective 5. Demonstration of the framework for relevant use cases, e.g., solutions developed in Area B
• Objective 6. A methodology for projecting the benefits of the application of safety measures
• Objective 7. Acceptance of the proposed framework

IDIADA exploitation objective

IDIADA may propose the V4SAFETY simulation-based test methodologies to Euro NCAP, apply the V4SAFETY framework in customer projects, and use the baseline approaches for homologation purposes. At least, one scientific paper will be disseminated in conferences and workshops like ITS WC, ITS eV, or EUCAD conference.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement number 101075068.