Germany Launches Ko-FAS: Cooperative Vehicle Safety

Taking advantage of the recent developments in vehicle safety and accident prevention system, the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology launched this weekend the so called Ko-FAS research initiative. The program has as a main goal the reduction of both road accidents and roadside fatalities.

Ko-FAS will be comprised of three sub-programs, namely Ko-TAG, Ko-PER and Ko-KOMP. BMW, through its research and technology department, will head the first two sub-programs.

Ko-TAG will try to further develop the Car2Tag communication system. Based on the developments BMW already achieved with the AMULLET project, Car2Tag will try and protect "particularly vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists," by using a communication system between the car and a "tag," worn by the other road users.

Ko-PER on the other hand will try and set up the guidelines of "cooperative sensory networks for mapping out the traffic environment." In the end, the goal is to achieve "an overall picture of the immediate traffic environment by exchanging and merging information from various sensors, employed to gather data in both vehicle environments and transport infrastructures."

Ko-KOMP will be responsible for the protection systems which are activated prior to an impending collision. Its goal is to develop those systems so that the accident is either entirely avoided, or at least its consequences are diminished.

"In the future, maintaining safe conditions on the road will require extensive cooperation between road users. This interplay is bringing the Ko-FAS initiative one step closer to achieving its aim of accident-free mobility," Ralph Rasshofer, member for the BMW Group in the Ko-FAS initiative said in a release.