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The statistics of road accidents over the last two decades show that the number of accidents increases persistantly in approximate proportion to traffic density despite the improvements in vehicle design and road systems. Some 85 % of these accidents are the result of driver fault. Despite this, the number of fatalities and the severity of injuries tend to diminish, this is evidence of the effectiveness of passive safety developments in the design of vehicles. The parallel development of active safety technology has been less successfull, in part due to the risk compensation factor. This paper explains that there are also unchangeable biological reasons for the high incidence of driver fault as a cause of accidents, and why drivers need technical assistance to overcome their shortcomings. The paper outlines a programme of active safety technology development which is targetted to meet the drivers' requirements to achieve higher competence levels in critical situations.