A renewed vehicle fleet equipped with ADAS systems, which on the other hand have already been mandatory for newly homologated vehicles since July of last year, would have helped to significantly improve the figures, still provisional, of registered fatalities as a result of road accidents that occurred during Easter Week, since different scientific studies support its effectiveness, estimating that if all vehicles on the road had these systems installed, approximately 40% of traffic accidents might be prevented or mitigated, 37% of serious injuries and 29% of deaths related to road accidents.

Currently, the level of equipment of ADAS systems in the Spanish vehicle fleet is medium-low, especially in those with the greatest capacity to avoid road accidents, such as lane maintenance systems, automatic emergency braking, angle detection dead, or fatigue detection systems, among others.

From the Madrid Automotive Distribution Association (AMDA), its president, Carlos Bustillo, points out that “it is urgent to act and take measures to facilitate the renewal of a highly aged, poorly equipped and sometimes poorly maintained vehicle fleet.

Promoting the use of vehicles with the best equipment of safety systems and driving aids to protect and save lives is right now a fundamental priority, as well as sustainable mobility and the environment”.

According to a report by the Spanish Foundation for Road Safety (FESVIAL), analyzing the road accidents with fatalities registered this Holy Week, it is observed that they have occurred mainly due to road exits, collisions with another vehicle or obstacles, inappropriate speed or not use of seat belt.

To estimate the reduction in accidents during this Holy Week, the traffic circumstances that have occurred in the accidents and that are reflected in the accident report have been linked – such as types of accident, situations in which the accident takes place, behavior road users, etc. – with the ADAS focused on acting when such circumstances occur.

The personnel of the dealerships and workshops associated with AMDA is fully aware of this problem and properly advises its clients on the advantages that ADAS systems provide to drivers, passengers and other users in terms of road safety. share circulation.

“At the Madrid Association of Automotive Distributors we consider that it is an act of responsibility to make drivers aware of the risks involved in driving a vehicle and therefore the possibility of equipping all the help and assistance systems should not be neglected. driving already developed and currently available” says Carlos Bustillo.

The worrying results of the road accident rate registered in the 2023 Easter holiday period, which show a provisional balance of 34 deaths, urgently make it necessary to act immediately on the three factors most implicated in the triggering causes: factor human, vehicle and road infrastructure.

Taking into account the high percentage close to 80% of human errors that are behind traffic accidents, an effective tool to alleviate human errors are the ADAS systems that are fitted to vehicles to a greater extent as optional and that, in Europe, are They are mandatory since the entry into force, in July 2022, of the standard by which all newly homologated vehicles must incorporate the following driver assistance systems as standard:

• Automatic emergency braking for passenger cars
• Lane maintenance systems for passenger cars
• Rear view camera with cross traffic detection for all vehicles
• Intelligent speed assistant for all vehicles
• Fatigue and drowsiness detector for all vehicles
• Belt alert in rear seats for passenger cars
• Blind spot information systems for trucks and buses
• Tire pressure monitoring for all vehicles
• Event data recorder (black box) for all vehicles
• Pre-installation of vehicle locking system with breathalyzer

The agreement approved by the European Union (EU) indicates that these systems must be compulsorily equipped in European vehicles, differentiating two phases, the obligatory nature of the approval of a new model from July 2022 and, subsequently, the registration of a vehicle new as of July 2024.