The aim of SAFER is to adopt a comprehensive approach to safety issues and to form an international hub for research into vehicle safety in today’s traffic environment. Advanced communication systems will play a key role.
“This is a very powerful drive to maintain and develop Sweden’s world-leading automotive safety industry and related research. Global competition and the demand for know-how require major joint efforts on the part of industry, the academic world and society. We are therefore happy to be one of the initiators of SAFER,” says Per Eriksson, Director-General of VINNOVA, the Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems.
SAFER will function as a platform that brings together the totality – driver, vehicle, traffic and infrastructure. The aim is to grow and involve even more researchers, companies and academic partners who are at the forefront internationally. The ultimate goal is to come closer to the Swedish zero vision. A vital step towards achieving this is collaboration and the sharing of key knowledge, such as large accident databases.
Current research areas (pre-crash safety, crash safety, post-crash safety and integrated safety) include ways in which vehicles can predict and prevent accidents by communicating with each other and with the surroundings via new safety systems, where the focus is on the driver and IT. This demands interdisciplinary research and the centre will link up researchers from different parts of Chalmers.
“For Chalmers, our highly successful whiplash and crash protection research will be strengthened and brought even closer to computing, IT and communication systems. In doing so, all parties will increase their knowledge and expertise,” says Jan-Eric Sundgren, President of Chalmers.
Partners of SAFER, Vehicle and Traffic Safety Centre at Chalmers:
AB Volvo, Autoliv, Chalmers, Ericsson, Epsilon High Tech, Folksam, Fordonskomponentgruppen, Göteborgs universitet, Imego, Lindholmen Science Park, Volvo Cars, Saab Automobile, Scania, Sicomp, SP, Telia Sonera, VINNOVA, VTI, Vägverket.
