Mazda Motor Corporation announced that it has developed the second-generation Advanced Safety Vehicle, "Mazda ASV-2," which is equipped with the advanced safety technologies to help prevent traffic accidents and reduce the damage of injury in the event of an accident. Mazda has taken part in the Study Group for Promotion of Advanced Safety Vehicle headed by the Japanese Ministry of Transport, and conducted research and development of the ASV. The Mazda ASV-2 has been developed for field testing by further evolving the results of the first-generation ASV, which was developed in 1995.

The Mazda ASV-2 incorporates further advanced technologies in the following fields, which Mazda has put particular emphasis on: the precautionary-safety technologies to help reduce careless drivers' mistakes in cooperation between driver and vehicle; and collision-avoidance technologies as a back-up system in case of human carelessness. In addition, by focusing on "accidents involving persons" which cause serious loss and "rear-end collision accidents," which frequently occur, the Mazda ASV-2 incorporates Mazda's original technologies for "pedestrian protection" and "whiplash injury mitigation."

Considering the application into the market in the future, Mazda has integrated the existing technologies, which have been developed so far, as well as improve a human-vehicle interface aiming at far more convenience for a driver.

Followings are the major features of the Mazda ASV-2:

1. Technologies for protecting pedestrians
Mazda has been developing comprehensive pedestrian protection technologies, including systems for giving information or warning to drivers, collision avoidance, and reducing of the damage from injury. The Mazda ASV-2 gives more appropriate information to drivers, using the refined technologies based on Mazda's original system which can even detect pedestrians as well as vehicles in front of the car.
In case of emergency, the vehicle automatically applies the brakes, while it adopts an injury reduction bumper for pedestrians.

- Pedestrian warning system
Mazda's current system uses a scanning laser radar which can detect pedestrians from a distance of more than 45 meters even when they are in black clothes at night, and those who are approaching the driving direction of the vehicle, to predict the risk of collision.

The system has been further refined to enable the detection of pedestrians on sloping roads as well as those on flat roads, by adopting a two-dimensional scanning mechanism for the laser radar. Combined with a new logic to accurately recognize pedestrians, the system can distinguish a pedestrian who stands beside the road from one who starts to going across the road. It discriminates between pedestrians and buildings or electric poles.

- All weather vision
Poor forward visibility in the driving in rain or fog as well as at night, gives the driver stress, which may bring about an accident.

A small infrared camera, which mounted under the headlamp, enables the driver to recognize the conditions ahead of the vehicle even in bad weather conditions. Improving the resolution of the infrared camera has made it possible to detect pedestrians or vehicles from a distance of more than 100 meters even in fog at night.

- Injury reduction bumper for pedestrians
In case it is impossible to avoid the collision with pedestrian, bumpers are designed to decrease impact to pedestrians. By injecting high-ductility PP (polypropylene) to form the rib structure at the back of the bumper, it effectively absorbs collision energy, making it possible to reduce leg injuries of pedestrian.

2. Technology for mitigating neck injury
The Mazda ASV-2 is equipped with a system to minimize the damage by whiplash injury caused by rear- end collisions, as well as the technology to avoid the collision to the vehicle running ahead.

- Whiplash injury reduction seat
The Mazda ASV-2 is equipped with a whiplash injury reduction seat which is designed to push the headrest forward, by using the force when the passenger's back is pressed against the seatback in the rear-end collision. A linkage, which is built into the seatback, enables the quick movement of the headrest compared to the existing technology, resulting in an effect to minimize the damage from whiplash.

- Whiplash injury reduction system with rear-end collision prediction
When the distance between the driver's head and the headrest is too much, it is possible that effect of the whiplash injury reduction seat is not enough. To ensure its effect, Mazda has developed the system that restrains the driver to adjust the posture to an appropriate one just before a rear-end collision.

This system can predict a rear-end collision by detecting the distance from and the speed of a following vehicle using a CCD distance sensor mounted at the rear of the vehicle. When the system predicts a rear-end collision, it winds up the seatbelt by motor to pulling the driver's body back into the seatback, shortening the distance between the driver's head and headrest.

3. Human interface
For a safety driving, it is important to give necessary information on the circumstances to the driver, quickly, accurately, without interrupting the driving.

- Information provision system
When the circumstance is not yet seriously dangerous, it is better way to communicate the information visually, because the driver has enough time to understand a great amount of information like a traffic information. Thus, Mazda has conduct a comprehensive research and development for the location, contents, timing of visual information which can be easily recognized by the driver, and proved that it is effective to locate a display at the upper front part of the driver's side and provide the information mainly with pictograph, keeping the driver's attention to the front. The display unit of the Mazda ASV-2 is recessed at the upper right part of the instrument panel.

- Warning system
When the driver faces immediate danger, a warning should be given to urge the driver to take action instantly to avoid the danger. As a result of studies, Mazda has confirmed that warning sounds including horn sounds, which reminds drivers of dangerous situation they have experienced, are effective in calling attention to the danger. Accordingly, Mazda has created warning sounds for the Mazda ASV-2, mainly based on imitation sounds including horn sounds so that the driver can make prompt judgements.

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