Active Safety

To prevent traffic accidents before they happen

We seek to ensure safety, to develop measures to reduce dangerous situations that may lead to accidents, and to avoid accidents. To this end, we attempt to understand the concept of safety protection from various aspects ranging from the basic characteristics of running, turning, and stopping, including kinematic performance, tires, and pneumatic force of vehicles applied to roads, road facilities, and natural environments, which influence vehicle performance. In comprehending the actual accident conditions and clarifying accident mechanisms as necessary for that purpose, we will study not only safety protection measures required for vehicles but also human factors, environmental factors, and social trends by analyzing accident factors and analyzing and predicting the effects of countermeasures based on various available data to develop a comprehensive concept of accident prevention and new fields of research.

The increase in older drivers is causing a social problem due to the higher numbers of accidents caused by slips in awareness. It is thought that these slips in awareness are strongly related to the visual search skills of the drivers. We at JARI are carrying out fundamental research into the visual search skills of people in order to clarify the reason for slips in awareness under these conditions.

The lighting devices used by automobiles include head-lights and signal lights. In addition to maintaining sufficient levels of visibility, it is also necessary to provide measures that prevent other drivers from being dazzled. The standards for lighting are frequently being upgraded in accordance with advances in technology and attempts to harmonize with international standards. JARI is involved in the visibility and glare of new types of lights and improving of standards.

When caught up in dangerous situations, it is important that drivers take appropriate avoiding action to negate the possibility of being involved in accidents. The JARI is studying the relationship between time margin and driver-implemented avoidance possibilities against incidents such as cars suddenly rushing out from byroads, cars ahead suddenly braking or lane departure of own car, and it is making use of the finding in safety measures.