Press Release – A Focus on the Future of Vehicle Safety

Munich, July 2018 – Automated and fully autonomously driving vehicles are still a long way off and the road there is riddled with challenges, but at this point there’s no turning back and development must continue. That’s the conclusion that a panel of high-caliber experts came to at MESSRING’s User Day in Munich. Scientists, insurance providers, consumer advocates, and representatives of the automotive and supplier industries spent two days discussing the future of the automotive sector and the challenges for developers and operators of crash test facilities, in front of an audience of more than 100 industry representatives. “We’ve made fundamental progress in safety over the past 50 years,” says Dierk Arp, CEO of MESSRING Systembau GmbH. “We should all be prepared for the fact that the speed of changes will likely accelerate over the next 50 years.”
Arp kicked off the event with a brief look back at 50 years of crash test history, which MESSRING as a global market leader in crash test facilities and their components has helped to shape in a decisive way. Over the years, the Bavarian company has built no less than 116 crash test facilities around the world, which is more than any other company. For four years now, MESSRING has been represented in China with its own subsidiary. And just in time for its 50th anniversary, the manufacturer of crash test facilities has taken another step towards the future by establishing MESSRING Active Safety GmbH in Ingolstadt. The idea is to work with OEMs and research institutes to develop innovative options for testing driver assistance systems and active safety systems.
Many of the talks and discussions at the User Day focused on the future of vehicle safety. For instance, Michiel van Ratingen of Euro NCAP presented a paper on future regulations and testing procedures. Dr. Lothar Wech of the Technical University Ingolstadt pointed out that passive vehicle safety will continue to play a key role in passenger protection for many years to come.
Prof. Norbert Schaub of Daimler AG impressed the specialist audience with a paper on how modern crash test facilities can contribute to the development of active safety. He focused on the new Mercedes Benz Technology Centre for Vehicle Safety (TFS) in Sindelfingen, which MESSRING was instrumental in developing and implementing.
Dr. Igor Doric, CEO of the newly founded MESSRING Active Safety GmbH, introduced a new groundbreaking MESSRING development at the end of the User Day event: The first dummy that moves using muscle groups controlled by compressed air, which can simulate pedestrian behavior in traffic more realistically than any other model before. Combined with the Target Mover, which was also just recently developed, it’s ideal for testing the response behavior and reliability of automated assistance systems in complex driving situations.
At the end of the successful User Day event, MESSRING used this example to reveal once again in an impressive way how the leading manufacturer of crash test facilities will apply its expertise in the area of active safety systems as well as demonstrate the degree of innovation that the medium-sized company already dedicates to active safety testing. “MESSRING will also accept the challenges that we as a leading company in crash test technology will face over the next 50 years,” says Arp with confidence.
Additional speakers at the User Days included Dr. Wolfram Hell (Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich), Rudolf Tesarek (Škoda Auto), Volker Sander (ADAC), Rolf Behling (Allianz Versicherung), Dr. Hans-Peter Schöner (Insight from Outside), and Wolfgang Rohleder (MESSRING).