V4SAFETY Vehicles and VRU Virtual eValuation of Road Safety

Research Project, 2022 – 2025

In order to set policies for road safety in the coming decades and push for Vision Zero, an accepted and reliable method for the comparison of safety measures for CCAM is needed. The proposed method will deal with the safety of all road users, from vulnerable road users to vehicle occupants.

V4Safety will provide a prospective safety assessment framework that can handle a large variety of safety measures, ranging from in-vehicle safety technology, new vehicle types, infrastructure solutions to regulations that influence road user behaviour. It includes methods to project the results in future scenarios and over EU regions for use by policy makers, authorities and consumer organizations.

V4Safety strives for comparability of results of safety studies by not only providing the framework but also guidelines for using it. The guidelines show how to select, configure and connect relevant human, vehicle and environment models; how to select a baseline approach and how to project to a conclusion to different regions of interest in the EU. Moreover, the framework will also allow projections for future scenarios, incorporating possible changes in the mobility system.

To understand differences between studies and to understand the influence of underlying data, assumptions and models, the method provides tools to characterise the influence of the determinants.

Combined with a well-defined baseline approach – what to compare to? - the resulting transparency and consistency in simulation-based safety assessment leads to much improved comparability and reliability of assessment conclusions.