  Road vehicle safety systems can be broadly classified into the two categories
of passive and active systems. The aim of passive safety systems is to reduce
risk of injury to the occupants of the vehicle during and after an accident
like a crash or rollover. Passive safety systems include the design of safety
restraints, design for crashworthiness, seat belts and air bags. In contrast to
passive systems, the aim in active safety is to prevent an accident from
occurring in the first place. As such, it makes sense to call them preventive
systems also. Here, the concentration is on preventive and active safety
systems. The current state of the art in some key preventive and active safety
systems is presented in this paper, wherein the various techniques used are
also explained briefly. In some cases, the presentation is complemented with
results obtained in the research group of the author. A road map of expected
future developments in the area of preventive and safety applications is also
presented.
