Main cause of facilities
A look at the statistics of the past years shows quite impressively that a large number of accidents and fatalities in the area of VRU (Vulnerable Road User) could be prevented with little effort. In Europe, 48%1 of fatalities in road accidents are VRUs. Every second bicycle accident associated with parked cars is caused by so-called “dooring“.2 The aim of “Exit Assistance” is to counteract these accidents. What this is and why it generates new test scenarios such as Euro NCAP “Car-to-Bicyclist Dooring Adult (CBDA)” is discussed in this whitepaper.
The challenge – new scenarios
A study from 2020 shows that 18% of all accidents with injured people are related to dooring. Dooring means that an occupant of a motorized vehicle opens their door into the lane of another traffic participant. There are two strategies to significantly decrease the number of dooring accidents in road traffic. The first is to generally counteract dooring by increasing awareness and using the so-called “Dutch method.” This method requires the occupant of the vehicle to open their door with the opposite hand. This physically turns the body already in the direction of the possibly oncoming VRU. Second, the number of accidents is to be significantly reduced by a new ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) “Exit Assistance.” This new system needs to be tested, validated and qualified within Euro NCAP for vehicle comparability.
