Today, technology already plays an important role in road safety. In fact, there are numerous applications available to drivers, with the aim of making the road a safer place. Any device capable of preventing accidents or, at least, mitigating their effects is always welcome. From this perspective, ADAS provide helpful support, many of which are already mandatory – such as ABS and ESP – and others which have already become a must among new generation cars. Furthermore, the Black Box already plays an indispensable role today; such a device triggers alarms in the event of an accident which – if connected to an Operations Center – immediately activates the geo-localized request for assistance. Medical intervention timeliness is, in fact, essential to minimize the most serious effects of an accident. In the meantime, however, everyone must do their part to reach the goal of zero deaths on the roads in 2050. However, the age of fleets represents a serious problem with the impact it has on the environment and safety, with all resulting social costs.
According to CENSIS (Italian Research Institute) analysis, older cars get involved in road accidents more frequently and lead to more fatalities: the death rate (number of deaths per 1000 cars involved in accidents) of cars over 16 years old is double than those of recent vehicles. Our fleet of vehicles still consists of 27% of cars over 16 years old which are not, of course, equipped with recent cars up-to-date safety devices. The field needs to accelerate with adequate multi-year plan of incentives for the modernization of circulating vehicles.
By Angelo Sticchi Damiani, President ACI (Automobile Club Italia)