Driver information systems (DIS) are considered in North America as a major category of Intelligent Vehicle-Highway Systems (IVHS), which offers to improve the efficiency and safety of driving by means of an amalgamation of information technology with vehicle and highway technologies. Traditionally North America has basic strengths in a number of information technologies that are relevant to DIS. Due to a hiatus in federal funding in the early 1980s, DIS development in North America during the past decade has emphasized autonomous systems on the vehicles until recently. The current acceleration of IVHS development in the United States has resulted from a number of converging forces and has provided the impetus for developing advanced driver information systems (ADIS) that integrates the vehicle and the highway. Large-scale demonstration and implementation of AIDS will hinge on the major legislations in the near future, and on the successful development of public-private sector partnerships in IVHS.
