US: Strickland opens Automotive Megatrends USA 2012
By: Martin Kahl, Tuesday, January 31, 2012, AutomotiveWorld.com
In his keynote address at Automotive Megatrends USA 2012, NHTSA Administrator, David L Strickland, praised advances in safety technology to date, and underlined the importance of taking vehicle safety to the next level. As well as safety technology development, this ties in with vehicle connectivity and electrification.
On safety, Strickland praised the developments in vehicle safety technology which have led to a reduction in US road safety fatalities by 25% since 2006. “We lost a little less than 33,000 people to traffic crashes last year.” This shows what “good policy, great strategy, great manufacturing and great innovation can do.”
In its 5-star safety programme, NHTSA has highlighted three key safety technologies: forward collision warning, lane-keeping technology, and electronic stability control (ESC). ESC is now mandatory in every car in the USA from 2012, said Strickland, adding, “Our rating agency is now looking at what will be the next highlighted technology.” However, “We have worked so hard on crash worthiness,” he said, but the “best approach is to keep the crash from ever happening.”
In addition to existing crash worthiness programmes and technology, connected vehicle technology is the next major step, said the NHTSA Administrator. “We have been working on this notion of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) for well over a decade. It seemed like something that was never going to happen.” However, “the Department of Transportation (DoT) and my agency, NHTSA, will be making a decision on V2V technology in 2013.”
“V2V connectivity has tremendous promise,” he said. “Our research shows that V2V technology can address 80% of crash scenarios involving non-impaired drivers. In collaboration with a number of our partners, we feel very bullish on V2V.”
Driver distraction, however, remains a critical. It is “something that the Director of Transportation has been fixated on, and rightly so,” said Strickland. “We need to recognise that people live a connected life,” and to recognise the lifestyles of drivers of the future, he said, many of whom are not even interested in driving. “We cannot ignore the fact that we have one purpose behind the wheel of a car, and that is to drive.” Furthermore, data exists to show that enforcement does not work.
Vehicle electrification, said Strickland, offers a real opportunity for a reduction in oil imports, and will lead to a cleaner environment and a more sustainable way of living, “especially in our more densely populated cities.” Electrification “has real promise”, he said, but as with standards regulation in any area of transportation, “it all comes back to safety”, whether lithium-ion batteries or any other chemistry.
Strickland wrapped up by outlining the international aspect of his duties, which involves speaking to regulators and OEMs overseas, to ensure not only that vehicles that may be imported into the US meet US safety expectations and requirements, but also to ensure that vehicle safety is treated as a global rather than national issue. “It isn’t just about finding the drivers for safety here at home, but working with stakeholders and my peers around the world.”
Automotive Megatrends USA 2012 runs from 31 January to 2 February 2012.
Published on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Free e-newsletters
Our free E-Newsletter service is an excellent way of staying up to date with news and features from around the global auto industry.
