Given this circumstance, it is vital that in addition to helping reduce injury when accidents occur, measures are taken to prevent collisions happening in the first place. To this end, Mazda has intensified its research and development of safety systems aimed at the traffic environment of a sustainable future. The ultimate goal is to develop cars that do not crash. This involves both passive safety that prepares the car for a collision, and also a higher level of active safety technology that supports the driver-who is ultimately responsible for safety-with accurate hazard recognition and assessment, handling that matches the driver's intentions, and vehicle dynamics that facilitate easier collision avoidance. At the same time, Mazda is aggressively developing comprehensive safety technologies that include the use of information generated by a transport infrastructure.

Evolution of recognition assistance and dynamic performance
Driving involves recognition, decision-making and reliable vehicle operation under a variety of circumstances. From this point of view, analysis of human error in accidents reveals that judgment error accounts for about 20%, operation error for a little less than 10%, and recognition error comes to more than 70%.

Mazda's research and development efforts aim to produce measures to counter such human errors when they occur and even eliminate the causes of human error altogether, to realize "cars that accurately recognize and assess driving and running conditions and allow the driver to take appropriate safety action." In practical terms, this entails the following:

HMI (Human Machine Interface) support for accurate recognition and assessment

    * Vehicle dynamics facilitating hazard avoidance with easy operations
    * ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems): Advanced driver support system involving coordination between the vehicle and traffic environment

Based on these three lines of R&D, Mazda is pursuing next-generation active safety that integrates the driver, the vehicle and the traffic environment with the goal of building cars that are both fun to drive and do not crash.

[Advanced recognition and assessment support technology]
An introduction to some practical examples of the advanced technologies and designs geared to supporting accurate driver recognition and judgment on Mazda's envisioned road map to safety.

Rear vehicle monitoring system (Installed in all-new Mazda Atenza)

To support safe lane changing, radar sensors in the left and right rear corners of the body detect a vehicle approaching from the rear or in the blind spots behind the B-pillars when traveling at 60 km/h or faster, and notify the driver via an LED lamp and buzzer.

Multi-control system CF-Net (Cross Functional-Network) (Installed in all-new Mazda Atenza)
CF-Net is an advanced initiative that grew out of the HMI concept. It links the audio, climate control and display systems, and by coordinating their operation offers comfortable and assured control. Steering wheel switches within easy reach of the driver and a centralized display above the instrument panel close to the driver's line of sight allow easy, positive operation and monitoring of the status of each system.

Good forward and downward visibility supporting maneuvers in tight spaces
Styling for the all-new Mazda Demio features a lower beltline to improve downward visibility ahead of the vehicle and assist the driver when entering narrow roads and during front-first parking. In particular, this feature makes front-end first parking much easier by enhancing both the visibility of parking bay lines and also awareness of the proximity of adjacent vehicles.

[Advanced vehicle dynamics]
The following is an introduction to some of the vehicle dynamics technologies that facilitate hazard avoidance and make for fun driving.

Roll stability control system (Available for the Mazda CX-9 for North America)
A roll rate sensor provides information on the vehicle's roll movements. This information is combined with data on steering angle, lateral G-force, yaw rate and vehicle speed from the DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) system, to ascertain the absolute roll angle at any given moment. To stabilize vehicle roll, optimal brake force and engine torque are calculated instantaneously, and the brakes and engine torque controlled accordingly. This maintains an extremely stable vehicle attitude under the various conditions the driver actually encounters.

Pre-crash safety System (Available for Mazda MPV and Mazda CX-7. Installed in all-new Mazda Atenza)
Mazda's Pre-crash Safety System uses a radar sensor mounted at the front of the vehicle to monitor various obstacles on the road ahead, and if there is a risk of collision alerts the driver with a buzzer and light. If the driver fails to apply the brakes, the system automatically applies them lightly to induce the driver to brake. If the driver is slow in taking evasive action, and a collision is judged unavoidable, the pre-crash brake system operates to automatically reduce speed and lessen the severity of impact. At the same time, the seatbelts are pre-tensioned to minimize slack in the seatbelt webbing and restrain occupants to reduce injury. For the future, Mazda will intensify its R&D efforts into more advanced technologies that further reduce crash injuries in consideration of pedestrians in the road and surface conditions.

Driving assistance technology coordinating with transport infrastructure
To mitigate the problem of human error in risk situations, it is important to develop countermeasures that respond faster and are close to hand. For hazards the driver cannot see, it is necessary to advance both vehicle and transport infrastructure technologies. For example, preventing a collision on a blind corner or on right turns requires the use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) technologies such as the vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-road communications currently being developed, which are aimed at enhancing communication with other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.

Mazda is participating in a validation of ITS on public roads to be held in Hiroshima under the auspices of an organization made up of local government, business and academic institutions*. The validation is scheduled to begin in the fall this year. Until now, Mazda has been involved in ITS-related development on test courses. This time around, Mazda is in charge of developing a navigation system that supports the ITS validation on public roads. Mazda will collect and analyze data from systems installed in several dozen of its vehicles. Mazda is also developing an infrastructure-cooperative driver support system that will allow the driver to receive relevant information from sensors, cameras and other devices installed on the road.

This kind of road-human-vehicle interface and control technology approach is being advanced in recognition that it is fundamental research, not only for problems of specific regions, but for future deployment in a variety of regions and situations.

*National Police Agency, Universal Traffic Management Society of Japan (UTMS), Hiroshima Conference on ITS Validation on Public Roads

Features of the Hiroshima district ITS validation on public road
The validation on public road will take place under typical conditions found on public roads in and around Hiroshima City, providing an opportunity to collect data from a variety of test cases. Road conditions for the trial are as follows:

    * Roads accommodating streetcars and automobiles together, creating traffic complexity.
    * A large delta zone with many overpasses, with conditions ahead difficult to assess near the summit of arched bridges.
    * Areas with short distances between lowland and mountains, which can create unexpected variations in weather and road surface conditions.

The following is an introduction to the main test cases with which Mazda is involved.

Right-turn collision prevention support system
Hiroshima city has many large crossings with streetcars, and especially when making right turns, the driver has to be aware of streetcars, oncoming vehicles and crossing pedestrians at the same time. In the upcoming validation on public, information on any approaching streetcar as well as oncoming vehicles that are hidden by the streetcar (based on distance to the intersection as measured by an optical beacon installed ahead of the intersection) is relayed to the onboard navigation system under test, thereby alerting the driver. Information on any pedestrians and cyclists crossing is provided at the same time.

Blind corner collision prevention support system
A major trunk road with adjoining streets and no traffic signals at the intersections is a common feature in Japan. In the upcoming validation on public road in which there will be many pedestrians and cyclists in addition to motor vehicles, the car will be stopped temporarily by an optical beacon, while pedestrians on the crossing, approaching pedestrians and cyclists are picked up by sensors, and the relevant information relayed to the trial car to alert the driver.

System to support prevention of rear-end collisions when waiting at traffic signals
Hiroshima, a city with many rivers, has numerous large bridges with upward and downward gradients, and in more than a few cases, there is an intersection directly after the bridge. It is difficult, therefore, for the driver to ascertain conditions at the intersection on the far side of the bridge when starting to cross it. Consequently, there is a danger of rear end collisions with vehicles waiting at intersection traffic signals. In the upcoming road trial, sensors detect the presence of vehicles stopped at traffic signals and slow-moving vehicles in the hard-to-see area on the far side of the bridge. Information on these rapidly changing conditions is relayed to the trial vehicle to alert the driver to the danger of rear-end collision.

Press release via Mazda