Driving Environment

Safer Roadways

The driving environment includes physical infrastructure (roads, signs, traffic lights, etc.) and the condition and maintenance of that infrastructure. Increasingly, information technologies play a role in the driving environment – for example, by controlling the timing of traffic lights. All of these factors have a significant influence on traffic safety.

Safety challenges related to the driving environment vary between countries and between developed and developing economies. Around the world, we work with government agencies and private-sector partners to promote road safety.

In Europe, Ford has been taking a leadership role in two major accident research activities, in cooperation with public bodies. These activities include the German In-Depth Accident Study and the United Kingdom's Car Crash Injury Study. Ford sees these two different but complementary studies as key components of its policy of data-driven decision making, both internally to ensure that our safety strategy is targeted at the most productive areas, and externally to help governments focus their rulemaking attention on genuine safety issues, where they can make a difference.

In Thailand, Volvo partnered with the Thailand Department of Highways and the Global Road Safety Partnership to establish the Thailand Accident Research Center (TARC) in 2003. According to Thailand's health sector, approximately 20,000 people die in traffic accidents each year in Thailand. This gives the country the dubious distinction of having one of the highest traffic fatality rates in the world. TARC builds on the Volvo Traffic Accident Research Team's 30-plus years of experience in Sweden. Volvo has donated substantial in-kind expertise to the project, along with a specially equipped accident investigation vehicle to carry out in-depth, on-the-scene accident research.

TARC has two main objectives: first, to build a database of knowledge gleaned from local accident experience, and second, to provide policy makers with information to help them prioritize traffic safety solutions and ultimately reduce the number of accidents. The project has trained a team of investigators who have been conducting research at accident scenes in several provinces in Thailand. The team, which has two doctoral and four Master's students working with the investigators, has published several reports and presentations internationally. They have also built up an accident database, making it possible for researchers to use material from traffic investigations and reconstructions of accidents in Thailand. (More information can be found at the TARC Web site.)

In late 2004, working in partnership with General Motors, Honda, Michelin, Renault, Shell and Toyota, Ford helped to found the Global Road Safety Initiative. The purpose of the Initiative is to transfer best practices, with the objective of reducing accidents and building capacity in developing countries to manage road safety. Projects include educational outreach to increase safety belt and helmet usage rates, and training aimed at improving roadway design.

The first focus of the Initiative is China, where both the number and rate of traffic accidents are high and growing. Ford and other participating companies have pledged $1 million each over five years to fund important road safety projects in China, Brazil and countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The projects are being implemented through the Global Road Safety Partnership, an existing organization founded by the World Bank and national governmental aid organizations. Ford is taking a leadership role in the Partnership through chairing the Executive Committee as well as being actively involved in project execution. The projects will rely on delivery through local organizations, so those organizations can build capacity and continue their work long after the projects are completed.

Also in China, Ford is cooperating with the China Automotive Technology & Research Center (CATARC) and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security to launch a new project that aims to provide accurate and scientific data for research into road safety in China. As part of that project, Ford took part in a workshop in Shanghai in January 2007 that brought together road safety experts from the United States, Europe and China to exchange information and experience, as well as to define a road safety project that will help establish a "glide path" for rapidly reaching an accident reduction target.

In addition, Volvo Car Corporation, the Volvo Group and CATARC have launched a project on traffic accident research in China to analyze accident statistics. The aim is to assist decision makers in prioritizing among traffic safety activities.

In Australia, the Australian National Crash In-depth Study (ANCIS), of which Ford is a founding member, is an unprecedented collaboration among major Australian vehicle manufacturers, federal and state governments, insurance companies and automobile clubs. Established in 1999 and managed by the Monash University Accident Research Centre, ANCIS provides a means for collecting detailed information about representative automobile crashes in Australia, to examine crash and injury trends and monitor emerging problems. The study's objectives have recently been expanded from a focus on vehicle crashworthiness to include crash involvement factors such as infrastructure and driver behavior. The unique arrangement of stakeholders involved in ANCIS has resulted in a much greater understanding among all parties of the systemic nature of road crashes.