Forward Collision Warning and Avoidance

Forward collisions represent a significant portion of all severe accidents. This is why appropriate warning and collision avoidance systems are of great importance to increase traffic safety. Different system specifications are subsumed under the so-called FCX-systems; they differ in their way of affecting the overall system driver–vehicle–environment as forward collision conditioning, forward collision mitigation, forward collision warning, and forward collision avoidance systems. A more specific definition of FCX-systems is derived by distinguishing them from other related systems as adaptive cruise control and pedestrian safety systems which can also have an impact on forward collisions. The specifications of the actual systems already on the market can only be understood if the characteristics of machine perception are considered carefully. The progress in the field of machine perception enables the forward collision warning and avoidance systems. There are still limitations of state-of-the-art perception systems compared to attentive human drivers which must be considered when designing FCX-functions. The state of the art in FCX-systems is sketched highlighting realized examples of FCX-systems of different car manufacturers. The last focus is on a systematic design process which is recommended for driver assistance systems. The motivation for the assistance is always to be derived from accident research. Already in the early conceptual phase functional safety, legal, ergonomic, and marketing aspects should be taken into consideration. Only if a consistent functional specification is found, further developments including package and architecture aspects are justified. Concepts for testing and evaluation should be designed in an early development phase as well.