The advent of advanced electronic, computer, and communication technologies provides an opportunity for seeking new remedies that can help drivers avoid crashes. The ITS Crash Avoidance Research Program is seeking to develop a broad base of understanding that can lead to introduction of advanced crash avoidance systems.

Mission and Goals

NHTSA will continue to fulfill its mission of saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing traffic related health care and other economic costs, by facilitating the development, deployment, and evaluation of safety products and systems. Among other things, this involves research into the science of crash avoidance to enable the development of safety-enhancing products. The agency will continue to establish the safety goals for crash avoidance technology, develop performance guidelines and specifications for crash avoidance systems, evaluate the safety performance of such systems, and work with industry to demonstrate the most promising ones and to facilitate their deployment in the marketplace. These activities will be accomplished through the combined efforts of NHTSA, the automobile industry, and other technology companies, working together under cooperative programs and partnerships that are sponsored by NHTSA.

The strategic goal of the program for the next 5-10 years is to demonstrate improved capability of collision avoidance systems, ensure that systems are both effective and usable to consumers, and provide a basis for understanding the benefits, (i.e., collisions, injuries and fatalities that will be avoided).

Scope

The central focus of the crash avoidance research program has been, and continues to be, the development of a broad understanding of how advanced technology systems can be used to help avoid collisions on the nation’s highways. The approach to implementing this focus is to arrange projects by problem area. Each of the projects in the program provide specific input to improving the overall knowledge base and understanding of systems that address one or more problem areas. These projects are described [insert link to"projects and tools" page]

Office of Vehicle Safety Research

[Coming soon: Strategic Plan and organizational information]