Citation

Fennel H. Proc. Int. Tech. Conf. Enhanced Safety Vehicles 2003; 2003: 12 p..

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, In public domain, Publisher National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

During recent years vehicle rollovers have become a major issue to the public, the U.S. Government and related organizations (NHTSA). Investigations were conducted by several organizations to analyze the reasons for vehicle rollovers and the measures to reduce the rollover risk. One major outcome of the studies was that vehicles with a small track width and a high centre of gravity were especially prone to rollover accidents. As a consequence a "star rating" was defined to give the end consumer a guideline in judging the rollover risk for specific vehicles. The paper focuses on modern active and passive Safety Control Systems that are able to avoid critical rollover situations and to protect the occupants of the vehicle. In the first part of the paper, the current technologies are described: active safety systems, passive protection measures, systems which are able to lower the center of gravity, and tire pressure monitoring devices. In addition, an overview of future technologies is presented: lane keeping devices, lane departure warning systems and tire status detection systems. Today, most systems are used stand-alone. From integration and networking of the systems, new functions and synergies are considered possible. These opportunities will be covered at the end of the paper.