Sharing the Road: Designers Answer Vehicle Safety Challenges

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration releases its latest statistics: 43,443 people were killed on streets and highways in the United States in 2005, the most since 1990, and overall fatality rate climbed for the first time in 20 years, to 1.47 deaths per 100 million miles traveled.

With such statistics in mind, "Sharing the Road" was designated as the theme for the 2007 Michelin Challenge Design competition.

More than 260 entries came from people in more than 50 nations for the challenge, which for this year focuses specifically on designs to enhance road safety for North America.

The best of those entries will be displayed at the 2007 North American International Auto Show, January 13-21 in Detroit.

Jurors for the Michelin Challenge Design included traffic safety researcher Dr. Anthony Stein, who notes that many major technological innovations - antilock brakes, vehicle stability control, energy absorbing and deformable body structures, etc. - have been made in recent years by the auto industry.

Indeed, even though the number of passenger vehicles on the road has increased from 150 million to well over 200 million, the number of deaths on American roads has declined since it peaked at more than 50,000 people a year in the late 1970s.