Standardization makes your car this safe

Norms and standardization in the field of vehicle safety are an important part of vehicle development. Standards are being developed for both active and passive vehicle safety. With regard to further developments in the field of automated and autonomous driving, projects on ethical guidelines are being added.

Standards developed under these aspects are coordinated by the NA 052-00-36 AA committee on "Vehicle safety." The following topics are covered by specialized working groups under NA 052-00-36 AA "Vehicle Safety":

The safety of children in vehicles requires special test procedures under specific conditions. In particular, standards regarding the anchorage and attachment of restraint systems and the reduction of risks of misuse are permanently adapted to the current state of technology. These include methods and criteria for evaluating the operation of child restraint systems and their connection to vehicle anchorage systems.

Measurement data are important instruments in the surveying and collection procedures for vehicle safety testing and inspection. Appropriate standards have been and are being created for collecting data for the various test laboratories and for the comparability of the data thus collected. These are supplemented by standardized measurement procedures, collection methods, and data exchange formats for impact and safety tests.

For occupant protection in motor vehicles, there are standardized test procedures for front, rear, and side impact tests. Dummies are used in crash tests to determine and assess the effects of the forces acting on the human body in an accident. For these test procedures, the design, construction, condition as well as the performance description of the dummies play a major role. A level playing field for dummies and test environments is achieved through appropriate norms and standards.

Similar to occupant protection, the protection of pedestrians requires appropriate test dummies and test procedures to be developed and standardized. To develop test procedures for occupant and pedestrian protection, vehicle manufacturers, suppliers as well as institutions and laboratories that perform vehicle safety tests and inspections all collaborate.

Vehicle safety also includes accident analysis. Appropriate standards have been created so that accident-related data can be recorded in a comparable and assessable manner. These standards also serve traffic accident analysis.

Standardized data sheets are available to facilitate the work of rescue services in dealing with accidents. These contain information on the location of critical components (live wires, fuel tanks), on disconnecting the traction battery from the high-voltage electrical system, and on the starting points for rescue equipment (sheet metal shears). These rescue data sheets apply worldwide and must be regularly updated in line with the latest developments.

Appropriate standards have been created to evaluate the safety of traffic management and control systems. These serve as guidelines for authorities and operators of traffic management systems for safe planning and design.

These standards also include guidance on reducing the number of serious traffic accidents and reducing the overall risk of accidents.

Another management standard is the organization and safety of commuter traffic with the aim of reducing commuting accidents and their impacts.

With the increasing adoption of automated driving functions, ethical aspects are also being discussed with respect to hazardous situations. A standardized guideline for the consideration of ethical aspects in the design of autonomous vehicles is being worked on.