ARTRAC aims to develop an active safety system to protect vulnerable road users (VRUs) from vehicles in motion, that is economically viable in the volume vehicle market. The safety system will consist of both actuators for controlling vehicle driving dynamics and the perception component for the vehicle’s surroundings. It will be tested on two types of vehicle that pose the biggest hazard to VRUs in urban settings, namely cars and light delivery goods vehicles.The environmental sensing is to be based on a single automotive 24 GHz narrowband radar sensor. This sensor offers the potential to overcome the hitherto price barrier that has prevented VRU protection systems from entering widespread use. To meet the challenging technical requirements for extremely short measurement time, reliable target detection, ego motion and road condition estimation that have to be met, a new transmit/receive antenna and multi-channel receiver will be developed. Existing microwave technology in the 24 GHz band is utilised as much as possible to facilitate low-cost mass production applications.The ARTRAC development promises to deliver a significant technological breakthrough that can contribute to achieving the objectives laid out in the Commission’s Road Safety Programme 2011-2020 and which will open up new possibilities for Advanced Driver Assistance functions.The consortium comprises 7 partners well experienced in this sector and worldwide leaders in automotive industry and research: 2 car manufacturers (Volkswagen, Fiat through C.R.F.), 2 research organisations (VTT, CTAG), 2 universities (TUHH, UPT) and one SME specialised in car sensors (SMS).