ACDP Enters Research And Development Agreement With Carnegie Mellon / Driver Training and Safety Institute
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.--Nov. 20, 2001--Accident Prevention Plus (OTC BB:ACDP) Accident Prevention Plus (ACDP) and Carnegie Mellon / Driver Training and Safety Institute (DTSI) have entered a strategic alliance to unite their expertise to:| -- | Develop and employ a fast Data Acquisition System to solve the on-board data collect for Skid Pad and Simulation Activity |
| -- | Raising the level of competency in drivers and drastically reducing financial burden of accidents in Europe and the United States |
| -- | Implementation of Electronic Driving Licenses |
| -- | Enhance the level of safety for the assisted and disabled driver |
Gerard Meyer, President and CEO of DTSI stated, "We are pleased with the new joint development with Accident Prevention Plus since we have been able to associate the high level of competency of the DTSI and the strong specialization of Accident Prevention Plus, which using the Smart Card presents a high level of security in the control of the drivers.
All Simulators and Skid Pads at the Institute are equipped with Accident Prevention Plus (ACDP) on-board monitoring. The Simulator and Skid Pad research focuses on improving safety on the road, enhancing drivers' skill and comparing these emergent devices with traditional truck education. Simulators, Skid Pads and Trucks are equipped with Accident Prevention Plus on-board monitoring. Due to the quick emergency exercise on the Skid Pad, it is necessary to collect data at a speed of 20 times faster to understand and correct the mistakes of a driver engaged in skidding. This new device is very important in the ACDP product line because it is used in numerous applications related to driving education...from the basics in car driving to handling of emergency vehicles.
DTSI is participating in several projects in Europe through EUROTRA Training Organization (250,000 truck drivers trained per year) and the European omission concerning the improvement of safety on the roads. The European Commission aggressively supports the project called TRAINER, which targets accidents involving novice drivers. This project has been set up and founded by DG TREN, Directorat of the European Commission, as a consequence of the huge number of casualities on the roads. Presently, there are 42,500 people killed and 1,700,000 injured in Europe every year. As a result of these statistics, 150,000 people become permanently disabled. Accidents related to novice drivers account for 15 percent of traffic accidents in Great Britain alone. Reducing such accidents by a mere 1/3 would result in 4,125 less fatalities, 12,750 less injuries and $500 million less in expenditures for medical treatment annually in Europe.
The tool which can handle the different data to constitute the database for the TRAINER project supporting systems such as the Simulators, vehicles and Skid Pad is the ACDP / DTSI on-board monitoring system. The pilot phase will use 30 novice drivers in each of the four European Countries (Belgium, Greece, Spain and Sweden) in comparison with 30 other drivers tested with the same tools but not trained with the tools. The project will then be implemented in all European Countries. The new project is already well accepted in Europe. A key element for ACDP is the fact that the new product has been approved based upon previous results obtained with the current line in DTSI.
We believe an equivalent program will be deployed in the United States once preliminary results are known. In the United States the level of accidents is in the range of $182 billion per year, therefore, there is a high level of demand to implement such a program. The market potential is in the range of $150 million or more in the next five years for this project in Europe alone.
This project will cause the implementation of an electronic driving license. The license will be delivered using the Accident Prevention Plus (ACDP) on-board monitoring system, which will be installed on the student car (10 minutes or less to set up new system).
The pilot test will be done in Belgium for about 300,000 students. If successful, the market range is $200 million in Europe. ACDP intends to leverage its potential with small countries in Europe, such as Portugal and Belgium, which have 500,000 new driving licenses per year.
Another European project supported by Belgium BIVV-CARA, concerns the assisted and disabled drivers, who may be allowed to drive under certain conditions. In order to control the hours of driving and to evaluate the safety of the driving, an ACDP on-board monitoring system will be mandatory. The potential market is not yet established but is believed to be significant.
This systems is planned for beta test by year-end and represents an astounding opportunity for ACDP and DTSI. It will be presented in the next meeting of the TRAINER Consortium and European Union Transport & Energy Department scheduled for mid-December.
Jean Calude Perche, President and CEO of Accident Prevention Plus commented "We are proud to be associated with Carnegie Mellon / DTSI and believe that the recent developements will bring our investors the return they expect."
DTSI is a wholly owned and operated subsidiary of Carnegie Mellon University developed using a $7.5 million Grant and supported by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration under the Cooperative Agreement No. DTFH61-99-X-00016.
Accident Prevention Plus (ACDP) is a vehicular technology company located in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, engaged in the development, production and implementation of unique, dynamic and crucial technology for the transportation industry.
Statements contained in this release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are made subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, statements about expected future events and/or financial results, invoke risk and uncertainties and that actual future events and/or the Company's actual results may differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to develop new business in the area of entertainment, television production, direct marketing and Internet content, its ability to attract and retain key personnel, its ability to finance its plans for growth, general economic conditions and other factors discussed in such forward-looking statements and/or the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
