Volkswagen has announced that it plans to improve the safety of road users across Europe at the level of the concern. After the application in Germany, they intend to expand their program for the use of sensor data and images from vehicles to approximately 40 countries, including Croatia. The goal is to optimize the driver support system and automatic driving functions using data from real traffic situations. Users of their vehicles can download improvements for this through software updates, and improvements to driving functions will affect comfort and safety in traffic, it was announced.
Real world data
The Volkswagen Group’s vehicle fleet already contributes to improved road safety today. Among other things, the vehicles use anonymized bulk data to generate high-resolution maps. This, for example, helps vehicles maintain lane guidance on roads without lane markings. It also enables precise driving recommendations and hazard warnings, which can be adapted to local weather conditions. This “wisdom of the crowd” is already making road traffic safer for everyone.
In order to improve the driver support systems, the engineers of the concern plan to use data from real traffic situations, which is considered more practical than tests with prototypes or simulations. The goal is to develop support functions that drivers will use regularly, thereby affecting the safety of drivers and other road users.
Only in special situations
Engineers focus on scenarios where driver assistance systems are useful, which include traffic situations with cyclists and pedestrians, such as traffic near schools or in parking lots. Data transmission can be triggered, for example, by activation of the emergency braking system, full power braking or evasive maneuvers. In these cases, data from cameras and environmental sensors and data on driving direction, speed and steering angle are relevant. Weather, visibility and lighting information are also taken into account.
They also gave an illustrative example: the vehicle should analyze movement on pedestrian crossings and sidewalks as accurately as possible. If the camera detects pedestrians moving towards the street, for example children playing, the vehicle can proactively increase brake pressure to enable even faster emergency braking.
The collection and transmission of data may include other road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists in the vicinity of the vehicle. Camera-based systems need to accurately classify objects and people and evaluate traffic situations in different conditions.
The prerequisite for data collection is the customer’s consent, in accordance with data protection regulations. The start of implementation is planned already this month for Volkswagen brand models, followed by CUPRA, Škoda, Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen commercial vehicles.
However, it is important to point out that continuous data transfer is not carried out. The customer’s consent is a basic prerequisite for the transfer and processing of data, and it can be given through different channels and is carried out individually by each brand, for example as an option in the customer’s profile. Consent can be revoked at any time. Data protection regulations are respected during processing, and individual information about people in the traffic environment is not subject to analysis.