Main cause of accidents: distraction

A new Austrian standard is intended to make the use of vehicles safer in future and thus drastically reduce the frequency of accidents.

Under the chairmanship of Thomas Stottan, CEO of AUDIO MOBIL in Braunau-Ranshofen, an internationally unique test method for improving the operational safety of cars has been standardized. The testing was developed by AUDIO MOBIL together with the University of Salzburg as part of a 7-year research project by a Christian Doppler laboratory. Functionalities in the vehicle are tested and evaluated under real operating conditions - i.e. not in a simulator.

This new standardized test method makes it possible for the first time to test vehicle functions such as activating the adaptive cruise control for distraction-free safety. As various studies have shown, distractions of more than 2 seconds are extremely dangerous, as you cover around 70 m at 130 km/h in this short time while "flying blind". The distraction times of up to 120 seconds that have also been scientifically determined, for example to activate a telephone call, mean a mental distraction of over 4.3 km at highway speed!

The new standard for the testing of vehicles and vehicle concepts, which has now been presented at the international IoT Congress of the Austrian Standards Institute in Vienna, is intended to provide the greatest possible remedy in this context.

At this internationally renowned congress, committee chairman Thomas Stottan presented the current and future challenges facing vehicle development as well as possible concept approaches for reducing distraction during vehicle use. Stottan also presented the development and challenging framework conditions for the creation of the new standard. Together with the Austrian standardization institute, Austrian Standards International, and the recognized working group with representatives from the Ministry of Transport, the Austrian Road Safety Board, TÜV and ÖAMTC, among others, it was possible to realize an internationally recognized standardization. An important step towards a significant improvement in road safety, which European legislation should follow if a reduction in the number of accidents is to be achieved.