ABSTRACT
We have come a long way in the development of vehicle technology since the humble horseless carriage of the late 19th century. The šrst decade of the 21st century has seen particular advancement in active safety systems-those which are designed to prevent, or mitigate the consequences of collisions by taking automatic control of the vehicle in some way (as opposed to passive safety, such as seatbelts and airbags, which prevent or mitigate the consequences of injuries resulting from a collision). Such advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) purport to improve aspects of safety, comfort and convenience (e.g., Richardson et al., 1997) by either supporting the driver or taking over certain driving tasks. As such, ADAS devices can be contrasted with in-vehicle information systems (IVIS), which-as the name suggests-provide information to the driver and might not necessarily be related to the driving task. Whilst the terminology is by no means universal, the current chapter focuses on ADAS devices as outlined here; IVIS devices are the subject of another chapter in this book.
