Press Release
Off Road Accidents can be Avoided with Continental’s
Road Departure Protection Systems
 In the U.S., approximately 55 percent of all fatal crashes involve roadway departure and in
Germany 60 percent of fatal road accidents occur on rural roads.
 Two different system architectures under development to protect drivers and their
vehicles from departing off the road.
Hanover, Germany, June 23, 2015. Road departures can be fatal, especially since the majority of
them happen on highways and rural roads. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration, approximately 55 percent of traffic fatalities in the U.S. involve a
vehicle crossing the roadway or center line. In Germany, 60 percent of fatal road accidents and
25 percent of non-fatal road accidents occur on rural roads, according to the German Federal
Statistical Office DESTATIS. That is why international automotive supplier Continental is working
on new Road Departure Protection systems – a base and an enhanced system – that aim to
eliminate unintended road departures, preventing fatal accidents from occurring on highways and
rural roads.
Avoiding roadway departure crashes, which currently are not completely covered by today’s
lateral guidance Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), is the motivation behind
developing a system for road departure protection. Road Departure Protection systems expand
today’s lateral ADAS by active road keeping in emergency situations, before reaching the
physical limits of vehicle dynamics. Based on environment perception means like road edge
detection or road course preview, the systems should actively intervene when unintentionally
leaving the roadway. By utilizing automated vehicle control, the systems keep the vehicle on
the intended roadway and as a result better protect against rollover accidents or collisions with
roadside obstacles or oncoming traffic.
The Road Departure Protection systems will automatically steer a vehicle back into its lane when it
begins to inadvertently leave the road or cross the center line into dangerous oncoming traffic. The
systems differ from Lane Keeping and Lane Departure Warning systems in that they specifically
monitor the outside boundaries of the roadway and act with more authority to keep the vehicle
within its intended space.
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Contact:
Soeren Pinkow, Phone: +49 69 7603 8492 / Nicole Orgnon, Phone: +49 69 7603 6000
-2“The system serves as a virtual guard rail, protecting the vehicle and its occupants from
accidentally leaving the road, ultimately minimizing the risk of a potentially fatal accident due to
driver error, distractions or drowsiness,” said Steffen Linkenbach, Head of Systems and
Technology for the Chassis & Safety Division, Continental North America. “The Road Departure
Protection system enhances our driver assistance portfolio of products by adding an intuitive
solution that goes beyond the warning phase by automatically steering the vehicle back into its
lane while alerting the driver of the potentially dangerous situation.”
Road Departure Automatically Steers a Vehicle Back into its Lane
The base system, which uses a forward looking mono camera to detect roadway boundaries,
monitors the driver’s steering angle and vehicle path through existing Electronic Stability Control
(ESC) sensors and also uses chassis motion sensors to identify if the vehicle is crossing the road
boundary. It then uses the existing ESC system to apply the individual wheel brakes to
automatically steer the vehicle back on the road while simultaneously warning the driver and
reducing the speed of the vehicle for safety reasons. This active intervention is signaled when the
vehicle senses it is departing the road. The system’s performance is enhanced by road edge
rumble strips, creating an opportunity for a combined vehicle plus infrastructure solution with high
effectiveness. The system is designed with a driver intention recognition feature in the event that
the driver does intend to leave the roadway for any reason.
Besides realizing a Road Departure Protection system with a mono camera and ESC, Continental
is working in parallel on an Enhanced System: A system that uses a stereo camera and a longrange radar for improved detection of roadway boundaries, particularly for country roads in Europe.
The long-range radar and the stereo camera of the Enhanced System allow the generation of an
occupancy map that contains information about the occupancy state of a tessellated area in the
vehicle’s field of view. Based on this map, a further confirmation of road departure and potential
collisions with solid borders like curbstones, guard rails or construction site equipment is provided.
The goal is to detect road boundaries, even when lane markings are missing. A coordinated brake
and steering intervention will increase the efficiency of this system.
The further integration of road map data and on-board GPS can also support an advanced preview
ESC feature that detects the course of the road before entering a curve. Based on the predicted
upcoming road curvature, the driver is supported in situations where the driving dynamics are
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Contact:
Soeren Pinkow, Phone: +49 69 7603 8492 / Nicole Orgnon, Phone: +49 69 7603 6000
-3critical, for example with inappropriate speed during curve driving on a country road or tight curves,
to keep the vehicle within the possible physical limits of the road. “With this cascaded approach,
we are developing an advanced system function designed to address a significant proportion of
traffic accidents and fatalities worldwide,” said Alfred Eckert, Head of Advanced Engineering within
Continental’s Chassis & Safety Division. “Both systems have the potential to promote increased
vehicle and driving safety and contribute to Continental’s Vision Zero, the goal of achieving zero
traffic accidents.”
Continental develops intelligent technologies for transporting people and their goods. As a reliable partner,
the international automotive supplier, tire manufacturer, and industrial partner provides sustainable, safe,
comfortable, individual, and affordable solutions. In 2014, the corporation generated sales of approximately
€34.5 billion with its five divisions, Chassis & Safety, Interior, Powertrain, Tire, and ContiTech. Continental
currently employs approximately 200,000 people in 53 countries.
The Chassis & Safety division develops and produces integrated active and passive driving safety
technologies as well as products that support vehicle dynamics. The product portfolio ranges from electronic
and hydraulic brake and chassis control systems to sensors, advanced driver assistance systems, airbag
electronics and sensorics as well as electronic air suspension systems all the way to windscreen washer
systems and headlight cleaning nozzles. The focus lies on a high level of system competence and the
networking of individual components. Thus products and system functions are developed along the
SensePlanAct chain of effects. They form the foundation for automated driving. Chassis & Safety employs
more than 38,000 people worldwide and generated sales of approximately €7.5 billion in 2014.
Contact for Journalists
Sören Pinkow
External Communications
Continental
Chassis & Safety Division
Guerickestr. 7
60488 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Phone: +49 69 7603-8492
Fax: +49 69 7603-3945
E-Mail: soeren.pinkow@continentalcorporation.com
Nicole Orgnon
Vice President Communications
Continental
Division Chassis & Safety
Guerickestraße 7
60488 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Tel.: +49 69 7603-6000
Fax: +49 69 7603-3945
E-Mail: nicole.orgnon@continentalcorporation.com
This press release is available in the following languages: German, English
Links
www.continental-automotive.com
www.continental-corporation.com
Online Media Database: www.continental-mediacenter.com
Contact:
Soeren Pinkow, Phone: +49 69 7603 8492 / Nicole Orgnon, Phone: +49 69 7603 6000