Munich, August 20:

Car makers are developing increasingly sophisticated driver assistance systems to boost safety, comfort and the fun factor.

Some technology that is already standard in many vehicles such as Electronic Stability Programme (ESP) can significantly reduce the number of injuries and deaths in road accidents, according to tests by the German technical testing authority Dekra and the Swiss Winterthur insurance company.

The two organisations concluded that a quarter of all accidents with seriously injured persons and 60 per cent of fatal accidents involve cars rolling over. Introducing ESP in all vehicles could significantly reduce the figure, says Anton Brunner from the Winterthur accident research department.

In addition, some 60 per cent of rear-end collisions and nearly a third of head-on collisions could be avoided, if the driver braked half a second earlier, according to Joerg Ahlgrimm from Dekra. Braking assistance systems would be the solution.

“Development of such systems is still at an early stage,” says Christian Frueh, responsible for new assistance systems at Mercedes-Benz. Vehicles equipped with electronic sensors are being tested. The sensors would automatically engage emergency braking to avoid such accidents.

Volvo recently unveiled a concept vehicle that recognises obstacles with the help of radar sensors and a rear view camera, automatically activating the brakes if the driver fails to react.

But a Volvo spokesman conceded that ‘much development work’ is still needed before the system is ready for mass production.