Accident Research by Insurers (UDV) - What is accident research?

The Accident Research of the insurers (in short: UDV) has set itself the task of increasing safety on the roads and thus avoiding accidents as best as possible. In order to achieve this goal, the accident researchers also work closely with political decision-makers and also cooperate with motor vehicle manufacturers.

Last but not least, the Accident Research of the insurers also acts as a client for road safety research in Germany. On the basis of their work, events such as an accident on the freeway or in a tunnel should be avoided as best as possible.

Accident Research by Insurers: Road Safety

The question: "How can we increase road safety?" has occupied people for decades. It is important not only to know what to do in the event of a rear-end collision, but also to try to ensure that any incident of this type is prevented in the best possible way. Because regardless of whether the accident was your fault or whether you were involved in an accident: the consequences can be far-reaching. After various institutions had dealt with the topic of "traffic safety" since the 1950s, the Traffic Engineering Institute was finally renamed Accident Research of Insurers (UDV) in 2006.

The task of the UDV is to develop holistic concepts in the following areas:

Vehicle

This includes, among other things, examining various safety systems that are intended, among other things, to increase the protection of children in the car. The protection of people who are traveling as passengers in buses should also be optimized in this way. Last but not least, the UDV is also involved when it comes to developing reliable protective clothing for motorcyclists.

Street

The UDV deals with the safety and design of roads. Above all, the safety of children and the elderly is the focus here. Existing measures are also closely monitored. In this way, any potential for optimization should be identified.

Person

"Is the way to school safe for children?", "Should improvements be made in various areas with regard to the applicable speed limits? – Accident Research by Insurers also deals with these questions. In order to increase the safety of people on the road, accident research is also concerned with how accidents caused by alcohol can be avoided as best as possible.

These are the tasks of the UDV

As can already be seen from the sections above, the UDV was entrusted with many different tasks relating to road safety from a wide variety of areas. The following overview shows how extensive the tasks actually are. Among other things, the Accident Research carried out by insurers ensures that:

• Cyclists are safer on the road
• All new vehicles are fitted with an ISOFIX child safety device as standard
• Areas in which a particularly large number of accidents occur are optimized with a view to traffic safety
• Children have the opportunity to complete the bicycle driving license (usually in elementary school).
• The safety of school routes is continuously increased
• The corresponding data for the various examinations are stored in a central database
• Technical security measures meet expectations.

In addition, the Accident Research departments of the insurers also carry out crash tests at regular intervals. The corresponding results should help to identify the triggers for accidents and thus ensure that the risk of being the cause of the accident decreases.

Conclusion

The range of tasks with which the Accident Research of the insurers is entrusted is wide-ranging. However, the goal is clear: more safety for every road user – regardless of whether they are traveling by car, bus, bike or on foot.