Automated Future: the FIA Drives Safety Forward at Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress in Barcelona

Last week, FIA Head of Road Safety and Advocacy Luca Pascotto presented the FIA’s road safety work at Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress in Barcelona. 

The global event brought together mobility and transport leaders from around the world, for discussions about the transition to a ‘better, greener mobility’. 

Over the course of the three-day conference, Luca spoke at FIA Member Real Automóvil Club de Cataluña’s (RACC) event on road safety and car automation, and presented the FIA Road Safety Index at an EIT Urban Mobility session entitled “The Various Aspects of Safety in Mobility.” 

The RACC event took place on 5 November. Luca spoke alongside Christoph Vollath, RACC Technical Director, and Ruth Madigan, Senior Research Fellow at Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds. 

In his intervention, Luca emphasised the fact that a safe system approach should be at the heart of any conversation on advanced automation, arguing: “We’re all fallible, we will make mistakes and we need to design systems that takes account of the fact that we will make mistakes.” 

He went on to say that the transition to driverless cars raises important questions about how and when the driver should be able to cede or recover control of the car. 

With that in mind, he stressed the importance of contributing to legislative development with the UNECE, at the World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). He noted that stakeholders must work together to better understand and mitigate any risks posed by hands-off driving.  

Luca also stressed the importance of raising consumer awareness on new vehicle technology, and the need to build trust in new systems to improve consumer uptake and adoption. 

Christopher Vollath, Technical Director at FIA Member Club RACC, agreed: “We need  to  respond to the need to prepare motorists for an adequate use of advanced driver assistance systems. These technologies have a great potential for a substantial  reduction in the number of crashes caused by human errors, but they also bring complexity to the driving.  It is encouraging to see the positive responses of users during our training session.”  

Real Automóvil Club de España (RACE, Spain) and Österreichischer Automobil-, Motorrad- und Touring Club (OEAMTC,Austria), were also in attendance and contributed to session. 

During his appearance at the EIT Urban Mobility Session, Luca presented the FIA Road Safety Index, a groundbreaking tool which enables companies to measure their road safety footprint in the same way as their carbon footprint. Luca explained that the project is a key part of the FIA’s wider efforts to help companies build a culture of safety. 

The FIA carries out wide ranging work in the Road Safety space, alongside its Mobility Member Clubs and the FIA Foundation. It will continue promote the Road Safety Index, in collaboration with FIA member Clubs, at upcoming events in Milan, Italy on 27 November and Stockholm, Sweden, on 4 December.