takes place in situations with oncoming traffic. Two out of three fatal accidents occur on two-lane rural roads. Overtaking maneuvers and loss-of-control situations are responsible for many of these accidents and they usually result in serious injuries or fatalities.

This paper

• analyzes the basic accident mechanisms in oncoming traffic collisions,
• focuses on human error that leads to the collisions,
• deduces target requirements for assistance systems,
• addresses safety benefits in terms of mitigating the severity of injury of occupants and vehicle damage of those involved.

This paper presents the results of a driving simulator study that describes basic driver behavior in these situations. The paper also describes different variants of assistance systems that address these drivers behavior effectively by acoustic warnings.