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One studies the conditions in which occurred side impacts having led to death of 369 car occupants. This sample is representative of the population of fatal collisions having occurred on French roads, in 1980. 28 % of killed were victims of collisions against another private car, 34 % struck a fixed obstacle, 21 % undergone a collision against a truck. The other types of collisions account for 17%. The performances to be reached in order to spare an important number of victims are of a high level. This is measured in function of the distribution of impact violences and occupants' ages.

Much progress has been made in many countries during recent years in detailed research into road accidents. The analysis facilities used by research workers to describe in a common language the severity of injuries and the deformation the vehicles undergo are improving. Assessment of the constraints to which the occupants of crashed vehicles are exposed is still too approximate, despite the fact that this is essential to interpret the progress achieved in the field of safety and to make decisions concerning the future. The methods used to analyze and classify accidents must reside on unquestionable physical basis. This is why Renault and Peugeot have discarded the Equivalent Test Speed method, replacing it by the Speed Variation method (ΔV) and, more recently, analysis based on two parameters, namely the speed variation and the mean deceleration of the undistorted part of the vehicle.

Several ambitious projects, such as the PROMETHEUS programme, have recently been promoted by groups of automobile manufacturers. These projects attest to the determination of vehicle designers to revolutionize the driver's environment in response to radical changes in road traffic systems. The success of these programs will largely depend on the manner in which the Driver-Vehicle-Environment interface is achieved. A key aspect will be to provide drivers with all the help they need, via intelligent electronics, to make their driving as safe as possible. Below will be discuss the main areas of ergonomics which require the greatest research efforts as well as areas in which our experience allows us to make an original contribution.