ITS America and ITS Europe to Cooperate on Safety Programs
IVsource.net
13 November 2002

ITS America and ERTICO (Intelligent Transport Systems and Services - Europe) have announced plans to cooperate on transportation and vehicle safety matters, formalizing the agreement with a Memorandum of Understanding signed at the e-Safety conference in September.

The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) and ERTICO (Intelligent Transport Systems and Services - Europe) have announced plans to cooperate on transportation and vehicle safety matters, formalizing the agreement with a Memorandum of Understanding signed at the e-Safety conference in September in Lyon, France.

According to an ITS America press release, the two organizations will work together as partners in the development and execution of research, development and policy programs concerning transportation and vehicle safety topics of mutual interest, and to identify opportunities for joint projects on matters relating to transportation safety. Both groups will seek the active support of the public and private sectors through such activities as meetings involving senior leaders in the transportation safety community as well as technology exchange seminars to promote project results.

This activity creates the opportunity to establish, for the first time, a structured link between the Intelligent Vehicle Initiative and related activities in the U.S., and research projects in Advanced Driver Assistance Systems in Europe under the e-Safety initiative sponsored by the European Commission.

The agreement was announced during the "ITS Solutions for Safety and Security in Intelligent Transport" conference hosted by ERTICO in cooperation with ITS France and with support from the European Commission. ERTICO is building a public/private partnership to develop an e-Safety action plan to help achieve the European Commission's goal of a 50 percent reduction in road fatalities by 2010 in Europe.

Earlier this year, ITS America released its National ITS Program Plan: A Ten-Year Vision. As described in the plan, unprecedented levels of safety, security, mobility and efficiency will be made possible through the development, integration and deployment of a new generation of in-vehicle electronics and vehicle-highway cooperation. The objective is far fewer and less severe crashes for all types of vehicles, as well as far faster response and recovery when crashes do occur.

Leaders of both organizations said that this cooperation between ERTICO and ITS America is expected to be highly beneficial for both organizations and their members, and to lead to effective and collaborative development of improved safety systems around the world.

"This agreement serves to reinforce ITS America's continued commitment to and focus on the safety benefits of ITS," ITS America Chairman Mike Walton said in announcing the agreement.

ERTICO Chairman of the Board Max Mosley underlined the importance of working together and noted that "Sharing experiences between Europe and the United States is an important step toward improving road safety worldwide."

IVsource is awaiting a copy of the agreement from ITS America and will publish it once received.

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... IVsource is awaiting a copy of the agreement from ITS America and will publish it once received 

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