Innovative materials for improving car safety

Never have roads been better than today. In Germany, for instance, 6,606 fatal road accidents were recorded for all of 2003. This represents a 3.4-percent drop versus the previous year – and the lowest accident rate since recording roadside accident statistics began in 1953.

The increase in safety is the result of a concerted effort: accident researchers, traffic planners, carmakers, automotive suppliers and manufacturers of components and raw materials have for decades now been pulling on the same rope to make getting from A to B by car a safer proposition. The countless innovations in both active and passive safety have contributed significantly to keeping casualties on today’s roads as low as possible – and continue to do so. At the time, more and more car buyers perceive safety as one of the main factors influencing their purchase decision. In this sense, offering optimum safety has also become a central marketing issue to all the partners involved in the automotive development process.

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