Shifting into active mode

The focus is moving away from passive safety systems with an emphasis on driver alerts and collision avoidance.

The number of traffic fatalities has remained stubbornly high throughout this decade, prompting a major shift in the auto industry's safety efforts. Active safety is now the watchword, heralding efforts to prevent accidents instead of merely reducing injuries.

Some believe that passive safety systems such as airbags have reached a plateau, with significant additional improvements unlikely. NHTSA (U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) officials say the number of passenger vehhicle fatalities has remained fairly flat for years, at about 31,000, as has the number of police-reported car crashes, which hovers a bit over 6 million per year.