TRL develops vehicle safety standards for Europe

Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) has developed new vehicle safety standards which it claims will save 25,000 lives and assist European countries in the development of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Matthias Seidl, senior researcher - vehicle safety & regulation at TRL, says the advanced safety measures will protect all road users. “Intelligent speed assistance and drowsiness and distraction recognition will support drivers in their ongoing tasks, autonomous emergency braking and emergency lane keeping wi
February 28, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Transport Research Laboratory (491 TRL) has developed new vehicle safety standards which it claims will save 25,000 lives and assist European countries in the development of autonomous vehicles (AVs).

Matthias Seidl, senior researcher - vehicle safety & regulation at TRL, says the advanced safety measures will protect all road users.

“Intelligent speed assistance and drowsiness and distraction recognition will support drivers in their ongoing tasks, autonomous emergency braking and emergency lane keeping will intervene in the most critical situations to avoid a crash and improved crash tests will ensure that injuries of occupants as well as pedestrians and cyclists are minimised in the remaining collisions,” Seidl adds.

The standards were approved by members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO).

Richard Cuerden, head of TRL’s Academy, says: “We are pushing very hard for relevant and practicable standards to be introduced for our vehicles, not only in the UK but across Europe.”

In 2014, TRL began working on behalf of the European Commission (EC) to assess the feasibility of the measures and assembled a group of unnamed car manufacturers, non-governmental organisations, governments and safety organisations.

TRL hosted a forum to analyse each safety measure and allow group members to offer feedback for consideration.

Looking ahead, TRL has been chosen by the EC to help develop the technical rules for the new systems

Enforcement

For more information on companies in this article

TRL

Related Content

  • The art of road safety
    June 10, 2022
    Saving lives on the road surely can’t be as easy as painting the town red – and pink, green and yellow? Or purple and blue? Can it? Adam Hill has a brush with Bloomberg Philanthropies
    Read More
  • Avoiding the call of the wild
    June 29, 2018
    Hitting an animal on a rural road can be fatal for all parties involved – but detecting and avoiding them requires clever technology. Andrew Williams carefully scans the horizon for details. Wildlife-vehicle collisions are an ever-present threat in rural areas around the world, and there is certainly nothing funny about suddenly finding an angry moose in your headlights on a sharp bend. A variety of detection and avoidance systems are currently in use or under development to help prevent your vehicle being
    Read More
  • Argyll and Bute Council pioneer the roll-out of MAAPcloud in Scotland
    April 14, 2014
    MAAPcloud, the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory’s (TRL) advanced cloud-based accident management and data analysis software system, has been chosen by Argyll and Bute Council to help them reduce the number of casualties and serious injuries on their roads. Designed by road safety experts at TRL, MAAPcloud supports local authorities, police forces and other road safety stakeholders in making vital road safety investment decisions. The system is intuitive to use and utilises modern cloud-based technologi
    Read More
  • New technology trials to transform bus safety in London
    August 16, 2017
    Transport for London has announced plans to test new safety technology on London buses. Automatic braking and audible warning systems will be trialled alongside measures including new mirrors to improve the driver’s vision. All the new technology will receive a completely independent trial at the Transport Research Laboratory, whose engineers and technical specialists have been appointed to work with TfL, bus manufacturers and operators to trial a range of innovative safety measures.
    Read More

Highlighted Content