20 SafetyWeeks - Empowering Engineers

2003 – With us from the start: Prof. Andre Seeck

Already at the first SafetyWeek, Andre Seeck presented the topic of NCAP consumer protection tests. His presentation has remained an annual highlight of SafetyWeek, because in hardly any other area regular updates are so important. The new requirements of the NCAP tests are, of course, often controversially discussed at the MeetingPoint.

2004 – Move to the Aschaffenburg City Hall

Already in 2004, the space in Aschaffenburg Castle was no longer sufficient.To make room for numerous exhibitors, SafetyWeek moved to the neighboring city hall.

2005 – German television on board

With the increasing importance of SafetyWeek, the media also took notice. In 2005, German television reported on SafetyWeek for the first time. To this day, TV is a regular guest and the trade press reports on the conference every year.

2006 – Active Safety debut at the SafetyUpDate

SafetyWeek was initially launched with a focus on crash safety. But as early as 2006, the topic of active safety and accident prevention made its debut with a presentation by Prof. Hermann Winner (TU Darmstadt). Today, active and passive safety are on an equal footing in the SafetyWeek program.

2007 – Debut of Focus Presentations on hot Topics: Whiplash and Pedestrian Protection

Since 2007, SafetyWeek has been accentuating the program with focus presentations on current topics. Back then, these included the introduction of a whiplash rating in Euro NCAP and pedestrian protection. Today, too, the program is geared to the evolving range of topics in vehicle safety. For example, the automation of driving functions is playing an increasingly important role.

2008 – Rinspeed SQUBA

The live presentation of the Rinspeed SQUAB started the tradition of regularly presenting exciting vehicles as part of SafetyWeek. No matter if concept car or series model - the participants appreciate the insights and the possibility to grasp things in the truest sense of the word. (with the SQUBA the latter was unfortunately exceptionally not permitted)

2009 – Panel Discussion

In addition to lectures, SafetyWeek has always seen itself as a discussion platform. From the very beginning, there were MeetingPoints where participants and speakers could exchange ideas. In 2009, for the first time, there was a panel discussion on the topic of Future Challenges in Vehicle Safety. The contributors Prof. Dr. Thomas Schwarz, Audi, who represented the industry point of view in the discussion, and Prof. Andre Seeck, BASt, who explained the position of the regulatory authorities, are now members of the SafetyWeek program committee and ensure that the future challenges continue to be the focus of the event.

2010 – ESF

With the ESF (Experimental Safety Vehicle), Mercedes presented a prototype with numerous forward-looking innovations in active and passive vehicle safety. In his keynote speech, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rodolfo Schöneburg asked: Where is automotive safety heading? - Visionary thoughts on the integral approach.

2011 – E-mobility Era Begins

The topic of electric mobility is gaining momentum. This also raises the question of the safety of electric and hybrid vehicles. Top battery expert Sven Bauer from BMZ talks about the safety of battery packs.

2012 – Cars in the Conference Room

In 2012, cars moved into the conference room. Whereas until then only isolated vehicles had been exhibited as part of SafetyWeek, the safety concepts of current models were now presented as part of the lecture program and participants were able to examine the vehicles in detail during the breaks. The participants are still very happy to take advantage of this opportunity.

2013 – First Remote Speakers from USA and India

Nowadays a commonplace, in 2013 still quite unusual and technically challenging: During SafetyWeek, speakers from India and the USA were connected live via videoconference for the first time. In the meantime, we have refined the technology so that it almost feels like live on site for speakers and listeners.

2014 – Outdoor AEB Demo at Continental

Off into the outdoors: In the evening, the participants went out to the Continental test site in Alzenau, where AEB tests were demonstrated. In addition, there was a barbeque and good conversations.

2015 – Running Dummy

A new dummy celebrated its world premiere at SafetyWeek 2015. The 21D DYNAMIC PEDESTRIAN TARGET was developed at TH Ingolstadt and can realistically reproduce the movement of a walking or running person. Igor Doric gave the first live on-stage demonstration of how the dummy moves. Its successor is now on the market under the name ASTERO.

2016 – Eye-catcher

A cutaway body of the Mercedes-Benz E-Class with many innovative safety features thrilled participants of SafetyWeek 2016. Matthias Struck presented, among other things, the Beltbag and the world's first side airbag that is ignited exclusively on the basis of a radar sensor.

2017 – Opel Ampera: one out of very few units

Even in 2017, there were already bottlenecks for e-vehicles. Back then, we managed to get one of only a handful of Opel Amperas available in Germany to SafetyWeek. As a result, there was a great deal of interest after Mathias Poklitar presented the safety systems.

2018 – New Location and "Father" of Vision Zero

In 2018, SafetyWeek moved to Würzburg. The new location brought participants, speakers and exhibitors even closer together on one level and proved to be a communication booster. The lecture program kicked off with an inspiring talk by the "father" of VISION ZERO, Prof. Dr. Claes Tingval. The message: Much has been achieved, but we must not let up before VISON ZERO is a reality!

2019 – Auto[nom]Mobil is launched

The new sub-event Auto[nom]Mobil premieres at SafetyWeek in 2019. The focus of this event is on safety in automated driving. While the event was still a one-day event in the first year, it has now been expanded to two full conference days and has developed into an important international expert dialog.

2020 – You can rely on SafetyWeek

It was probably never so difficult to organize a SafetyWeek before, but we didn't give up. After two postponements, SafetyWeek took place in late summer as a face-to-face event and, for the first time, was also broadcast live around the world. For many participants it was the only face-to-face event of the whole year. Accordingly, they were happy to be among people again.

2021 – Experts in Dialog

Talking to each other - that is the goal of the Auto[nom]Mobil expert dialog. Under the direction of Prof. Klaus Kompass, at the end of the first day of the conference Udo Steininger (TÜV Süd), Dr. Michael Fausten (Bosch), Dr. Sven Nitsche (BMW) and Gregor Kugelmann (Mercedes-Benz) discussed questions such as the possible consequences of homologation based on a positive risk balance in the context of product liability. Here it becomes clear that the industry must look for solutions together and in dialog with all stakeholders. This is the basis for the program design of SafetyWeek 2022.

2022 – Further towards Vision Zero

The 19 SafetyWeeks to date have shown that the topic of vehicle safety is in a constant state of flux, but that despite enormous progress during this time, much remains to be done to further improve the safety of all road users and to eventually move from Vision Zero to Reality Zero. SafetyWeek continues to see itself as a platform that brings together everyone involved in vehicle safety. In 2022, the industry's leading minds will again report and discuss where the journey is headed.