Automotive System Safety

3System Safety vs. Functional Safety in Automotive Applications

Safety Terminology

The word safety is used in many different contexts in the automotive industry. For example, safety may be used when referring to vehicle occupants as their freedom from harm in a vehicle collision; this may be simulated by the behavior of and stress imposed on crash dummies of differing types. Requirements for product safety are included in IATF 16949, a quality standard, but product safety is not defined in this standard. The reader is left to interpret the intent of the standard for product safety based on the requirements that are included.

Safety systems are included in vehicles and are often described as passive or active. This distinction is made between systems that function after a collision has occurred and systems that “actively” function to prevent a collision or reduce the severity of the collision. Passive safety systems include seatbelts and airbag systems. Seatbelt systems are standard and can include advanced features such as pretension functions and seatbelt buckle lifters. Active safety includes advanced emergency braking and lane departure warnings. There are more automated features that fall into the category of advanced driver assistance but that are also considered active safety systems.

Functional safety refers to the safety of the system when it malfunctions. Some enterprises have functional safety organizations with responsibility for the functional safety process. While ...