eSafety Lyon Establishes a New Vision for Vehicle-Highway Cooperation
IVsource.net
22 September 2002 (revised 10/11/02)

With an array of government officials, industry visionaries, vehicle safety experts, and highway safety experts in attendance, the eSafety conference held September 16-18 in Lyon, France brought the ITS safety emphasis to a new level.  IVsource was there and offers this review and perspective. 

With an array of government officials, industry visionaries, vehicle safety experts, and highway safety experts in attendance, the eSafety conference held September 16-18 in Lyon, France brought the ITS safety emphasis to a new level.

The focus in Europe has shifted apparently from simply advancing technology-based systems to realizing quantitative reductions in vehicle crashes, through any means necessary.  So the more mundane aspects of “hard side” highway safety and “glitz-side” ITS technology are now thrown into the same arena to bring off the stated goal of a 50% reduction in road fatalities by 2010.

At eSafety, both highway safety and vehicle safety sessions were present in abundance, and the concept of active cooperation between the infrastructure and the vehicles operating on it repeatedly received endorsements from government officials and vehicle industry executives alike.  In past years, cooperative vehicle-highway systems (CVHS) have been explored extensively in Japan, but only modest research funding has been applied in the US, and investments in Europe have been primarily limited to Intelligent Speed Adaptation (ISA).   The European eSafety initiative, for which the eSafety conference was the first big event, clearly places an emphasis on CVHS as an important part of achieving safety goals.  This portends a new level in research investments and deployment-oriented thinking, bringing vehicle-highway cooperation – the original dream of ITS founders over a decade ago – a bit closer to reality.

The conference, which attracted a mostly European attendance of about 500, was opened by Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society within the European Commission.  Liikanen has been a major proponent of the eSafety initiative since it was launched at the beginning of this year.  The conference was co-sponsored by the EC, ITS France, and ERTICO, the European-wide ITS organization.  Reflecting the Commission’s interest and that of their members, ERTICO is taking a strong role in advocating eSafety and developing supporting research programs.  Also speaking at the opening was Max Mosely, Chairman of the ERTICO Supervisory Board, and Jean-Marin Folz, President of PSA Peugeot-Citroen, and Chair of ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturer’s Association.

eSafety Action Plan

ERTICO organized an initial high-level meeting on eSafety in April of this year, where it was decided to build a public-private partnership to develop an eSafety Action Plan and Roadmap to reach the 2010 goal.  The status of the plan was reviewed on the opening day of the eSafety conference.  ERTICO will continue to sponsor high-level meetings, bringing Commission officials together with leaders in the relevant industrial and government sectors to advance eSafety.

Automakers Evident at Exhibition

The conference included a small but vigorous exhibition space, with vehicle manufacturers conspicuously represented:  DaimlerChrysler, PSA, Renault, Renault Trucks, and Volvo Car were all there.  At least two common messages were evident from the manufacturers: we are continuing to roll out Advanced Driver Assistance Systems into the marketplace, and we are carefully examining human-machine interface issues to assure effective and safe systems.

Capabilities showcased at the exhibition included the Inter-Vehicle Hazard Warning System, a project with participation by several car manufacturers and road operators.  The IVHW allows a stranded vehicle to emit a broadcast signal which can be received by upstream vehicles, therefore announcing its presence and alerting drivers to watch for an obstruction in the motorway.

Additionally, PSA highlighted a “Lateral Control System” which uses infrared detectors behind the bumper to detect road markings in a “look-down” mode, then warning the driver of any inadvertent lane departures via a vibrating seat.  PSA also showcased their Adaptive Frontlighting System, which adapts the illumination as necessary for curves and other situations.  Another project, which was emphasized at the Renault Trucks booth, is ARCOS, a program sponsored by the French government.  ARCOS plans to pilot collision prevention functions such as managing inter-vehicle distance and preventing road departure. 

Intelligent Integrated Safety

Within the eSafety initiative, a new term has been birthed to refer to CVHS: Intelligent Integrated Safety.

Cooperative applications discussed included real-time updates of digital maps, floating car data collection and dissemination, intelligent speed adaptation, inter-vehicle hazard warning, and inter-vehicle communications (IVC).  IVC applications devolve into several forms:  vehicle-vehicle communications and vehicle-roadside communications; in either case, the approach can be local area broadcast (such as for a disabled vehicle) or point-to-point (such as maneuver coordination for a lane change).

The car companies seem to be fully on-board with eSafety, based on comments made in a session entitled Improving Safety Through Automotive Technologies.  Representatives from DaimlerChrysler, Renault, Toyota Europe, Volvo Car, and Volkswagen spoke to the opportunities in this area, as well as of products which they are bringing to market.  More than once the importance of “keeping the driver in the loop” was emphasized.

EC Sixth Framework Takes It From Here

Where from here?  Energies are being focused by the EC Sixth Framework program, which will issue its first call for proposals in December of this year.  A radically different approach will be used, in which large integrated programs will be awarded, each of which focuses on delivering a key goal of eSafety.  Large consortia of automotive manufacturers, electronics firms, and research institutions are expected to come together to bid on these programs.  Andre Vits, who was named Head of Unit for Applications in Transport and Tourism within the EC Information Society Directorate earlier this year, is bringing a new and aggressive leadership to these activities.

Overall, the eSafety conference seems to have been successful in galvanizing the EU ITS community to focus on this new area, inaugurating a new era of ITS R&D focused on safety.  With the future research agenda for US and Japanese  programs currently just in formation, the Europeans are in position to lead the way.

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