Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are vehicle-based intelligent safety systems, developed and deployed by vehicle manufacturers, which have the potential to improve road safety in terms of crash avoidance, crash severity reduction, and protection. This study examined the technical feasibility of various retrofit ADAS, and specifically evaluated Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (DDR-ADR), Speed Limit Information (SLI), Reversing Detection (REV), Tire Pressure Monitoring (TPM) system, Vulnerable Road User Detection and Warning on front and side of vehicle (VIS-DET), Turn Assistant for trucks, and 112 eCall. Some of the ADAS considered in this study have been available and factory-fitted in vehicles since 2015 and 2018, and some are planned to be implemented in 2022 and 2024. The current penetration rates of ADAS in the European Union (EU) vehicle fleet and their expected development over time were assessed, and various policy measures and their expected effects were developed. The expected impacts of retrofitting ADAS under two different policy options were tested in a cost-benefit analysis (CBA).

In the CBA, the current retrofit ADAS penetration rates were quite low, lingering around 0.2-0.4 percent, considering all the vehicle fleets in the EU. However, a 100 percent usage rate was used throughout this study. In the CBA, the effects were analyzed over 15 years, starting in 2026, when the first policy measures were projected to be put into place (e.g., an awareness-raising campaign and a subsidy scheme for implemented policies) and run until 2041. Two different sets of policy measures were assessed: Policy Option 1 (PO1) included both a financial incentive and an awareness campaign (voluntary measures). Policy Option 2 (PO2) assumed a mandatory deployment of retrofit ADAS for all vehicles during a period of two years (2026–2027). The costs included in the CBA were  purchase and installation costs, subsidy costs, campaign costs, and inspection costs. Damage, maintenance, standardization, and certification costs were assumed to be negligible and, hence, not considered in the CBA.

Table 1. Discounted Value of Purchase and Installation Costs in PO1 and PO2 (Millions, Exchange rate 1 Euro= 1.13 US $).

Table 2. Discounted Value of Inspection Costs in PO1 and PO2 (Millions, Exchange rate 1 Euro= 1.13 US $).