The key role of the Tertiary Safety in the vehicle concept design to preserve the occupants and road users life

摘要

With 1.35 million of fatalities in 2016, road crashes are one of the leading causes of dead worldwide (much more so than HIV/AIDS or tuberculosis), Since many years, all the vehicle manufactures (OEM's) are focused to develop innovative solutions to improve both Primary (also called Preventive) and Secondary Safety. More than 90% percent of road accidents are caused by "human mistakes" and the Primary Safety acts to alert the driver in critical situations and, ultimately, by supporting the driver to improve his behaviour and to monitor the level of attention. Then, if it's not possible to mitigate the crash, the Secondary Safety solutions aim to protect the vehicle occupants and road users from severe injuries during the impact. Only recently the OEM's have discovered that plays a strategic role also in minutes after the crash event. In fact, the Rescue Services require detailed but readily-understood information regarding the construction and the propulsion solution of the vehicles to extricate trapped occupants as quickly and safely as possible. This is becoming more demanding as vehicles become stronger (i.e. use of high strength steels or composite materials), use different sources of power (i.e. electric, natural gas, hydrogen) and are equipped with increasing numbers of active safety devices (i.e. autonomous emergency braking, line departure warning). This paper is intended to illustrate how the Tertiary Safety effectiveness could take substantial advantages if it's approached in the vehicle concept design. Some virtuous vehicle manufactures in recent years have invested in "Rescue sheets" but their availability and dissemination among the stakeholder's is not fully covered and definitely not enough to preserve the life of the occupants.