Recent advance, trends and perspectives in the safety design of vehicles

Although relevant improvements have been reached in the passenger and Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) safety of modern vehicles, there is still a growing expectation toward further advances. The intention of the proposed paper is to develop three complementary subjects: 1 – a brief overview of the recent developments in the international regulations (with particular reference to the EU) 2 – the evolution of the virtual modelling of the crash event. Among the others, a diffusion of the use of human body models (HBMs) together with the already available mathematical models of the traditional dummies is well visible. The use of the HBM gives the possibility of deeper insight in the passenger injury risks and refinement in the evaluation of the possible injuries originated by crash events. 3 – taking into account that about 80% of the fatal accidents are linked with human factors, the innovative instrumentation devoted to the evaluation of the attention paid by the driver in his driving activity, of his tiredness or disease. The prevention against abuse of alcohol or the use of drugs. Some of these subjects can get relevant improvements through the implementation of the autonomous driving solutions, however some new concerns are coming out to be studied.