While autonomous or driverless driving has received a lot of public attention recently, the majority of the driving for the foreseeable future remains without automation, or with a mixed environment of no and partial automation, and full automation only for a small percentage of vehicles. In all of these mixed modes of traffic, the persisting significant challenge is the safety of driving and traffic crashes, which cause about 35,000 fatalities and 2.2 million injuries annually in the United States, resulting in an estimated economic loss of over $230 billion. Integrated vehicle passive and active safety systems are required to mitigate crashes or avoid collisions. This talk reviews some timely areas of research in vehicle control systems and signal processing to address the pervasive vehicle safety problem.

Advanced methods in vehicle mechanics/dynamics, controls, communications, man-machine interface, human factors, as well as cognitive science are utilized to design and develop active safety and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Based on sensory feedback and situational awareness, these systems can warn/alert the driver to take action, partially support the driver’s control tasks, or intervene by full control to automatically avoid collisions. In this talk, first, a holistic approach to vehicular safety and its advanced research challenges is discussed; and advances in vehicular systems, ranging from partial to full automation and their collision avoidance implications are reviewed. Next, a critical perspective on personal mobility and the implications of current directions in automotive industry is briefly discussed. A view on the future that ensures both practical mobility, safety, and congestion mitigation while minimizing energy consumption is presented with the hope of creating awareness for a persisting traffic congestion and safety challenge.