FISITA will organise a series of four special sessions on the key technical, commercial and regulatory issues surrounding Vehicle Safety Communications (VSC). The sessions will be organised on 23 & 24 October during the FISITA 2006 World Automotive Congress in Yokohama and will address the themes of:
Communications-Enabled Vehicle Safety Applications and Requirements
Legal, Regulatory, and Safety Issues
Technology and Standards Issues
Cost-Benefit Feasibility
Each session will feature three panellists, one each from Japan, Europe, and the U.S., discussing key developments in each region and the implementation status of major initiatives. For engineers, executives and policy-makers concerned with automotive safety, the sessions will provide valuable insight into this fast-growing area of advanced technology.
The special sessions are the brainchild of T. Russell Shields, a pioneer of the global ITS movement and a member of the FISITA 2006 Technical Committee. Shields explained that: “Communications-enabled technologies in the vehicle offer new hope for preventing crashes and reducing fatalities. Revolutionary VSC initiatives are being aggressively pursued by industry and government around the world, but a variety of technical, standards, legal and economic issues must be addressed to realise VSC’s potential”.
According to Shields, VSC initiatives are beginning to recast the global safety agenda toward an increased concentration on crash prevention, not just crash mitigation: “Crash prevention works well when drivers and on-board systems have good information about their driving environment, including the state of the roads, obstacles, pavement hazards, work zones, and the like. Wireless communications provides environmental information beyond the reach of the vehicle’s own sensors. In addition, vehicles are the best source of information about road hazards, as well as its most important user”.
Expert panellists include: Dr. Ralf Herrtwich, DaimlerChrysler AG, Germany; Mr. Robert Lange, General Motors Corporation, USA; Mr. Hideo Inoue, Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan; Mr. Michael Noblett, Connexis, USA; Mr. Bob Williams, Consultancy Services International (CSI), UK; Prof. Hironao Kawashima, Keio University, Japan; Mr. Setsuo Hirai, National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, Japan; Mr. André Vits, European Commission, Belgium; Dr. Joseph Kanianthra, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, USA.
For information about FISITA Events, please visit https://www.fisita.com/events