Safety In the area of safety, we have established Vision Zero, the goal of which is to reduce the number of fatal accidents to zero. As a reference point, we are using the number of such accidents in 1995 that involved Nissan vehicles. We realize that accidents cannot be completely avoided, so our objective is to be substantially zero in the future. To achieve this, we have set a series of milestones, including cutting the 1995 fatal accident figure in half by 2015.  Interestingly, while the number of fatal ones is decreasing, the number of all accidents in Japan is increasing. Our first goal is to decrease the overall accident count, which should further reduce the number of fatalities. Several factors contribute to accidents, including driver inexperience and higher speeds. Based on these factors, we came up with the approach of Safety Shield. Safety Shield establishes a timeline for the entire accident, covering the safe driving zone, the moment before the accident, the actual crash, the response time by authorities, and the time taken for post-accident rescue. OUR WORK In the past, safety technology primarily focused on dealing with damage in and around the vehicle, such as airbags, body structure design, seatbelts and crumple zones. Now we are studying normal driving conditions and researching how we can keep car and driver in the safe driving zone. In cases where the driving environment becomes unsafe, some type of warning would usually help the driver to return to the safe driving zone. A driver actually in danger has probably lost control of the car. In the latter cases, we must focus on safety technologies that prompt the vehicle itself to automatically assist the driver. An example of this is Nissan’s Lane Departure Prevention system or brake assist: When the vehicle approaches the lane markers, this system not only warns the driver to pay attention through a display and an audible buzzer, it also generates part of the necessary yaw movement needed to return the vehicle to its lane and safety. Another Nissan safety innovation is the Around  View Monitor. This system offers a 360-degree view on  a dashboard display of what is around the vehicle. In addition to significantly reducing the blind spots in driving, the Around View Monitor is helpful when parking, since  it improves the driver’s field of vision and enables  better maneuverability.  In developing safety technologies, we also look at the conditions that exist seconds before an unavoidable crash. With this information, we can provide technologies to minimize the impact and damage in addition to notifying the authorities and calling for assistance afterward. Because we are building on actual accident data, the final stage in the Safety Shield involves collecting and analyzing the data and feeding what we learn back into the development process. We have committed ourselves to introducing over ten new safety technologies during the next three years, spanning the entire driving range from the safe driving zone to the actual crash. For more on safety at Nissan, please see the 2005 Nissan Sustainability Report Around View Monitor Safety Shield—concept image Nissan Annual Report 2004 46 Helps maintain safe driving Risk has not yet appeared Risk has appeared Crash may occur Crash is unavoidable Crash Post crash Helps correct to safer condition Intervenes to safer condition Prepares for  crash Helps  Mitigate  crash injury Helps  mitigate  post-crash  injury  Normal Driving Risk Accident Post Accident Cameras Display