IT'S not just the environment that is driving the future direction of car design and innovation - the ball is already well and truly rolling when it comes to putting passenger and pedestrian safety to the fore.

Road deaths worldwide are still at unacceptable levels, so many major car manufacturers are putting more and more time and money into making their cars ultra-safe for both occupants and onlookers.

It will pay off in the long run - safety will soon become as big a showroom attraction as eco-cars.

Take the latest news from Nissan - in the firm's home market of Japan, the firm wants to help halve the number of traffic fatalities, or serious injuries, involving Nissan vehicles by 2015 compared with the level in 1995.

With that stated aim, the firm has just unveiled a new concept car that shuts down if the driver has been drinking, and which can also detect drowsiness and bad driving.

Nissan's concept has an alcohol odour sensor built into the car's gear lever, which can detect alcohol in the driver's palm perspiration. When it does, the transmissions locks up, and the car's a no-go - so it's sober up, or stay put.

Seat-mounted odour sensors can also detect the presence of alcohol in the air in the vehicle, which will trigger both voice and text warning messages via the concept's satellite navigation screen system.

The Nissan concept also has a camera mounted on the dashboard instrument cluster, facing the driver, to monitor the driver's face for signs of drowsiness.

Again, voice and message alerts are issued, and the seat-belt also tightens around the driver to get immediate attention.

Vehicle sensors will also pick up odd driving behaviour, by constantly monitoring the operation of the vehicle. So, it will sense, for example, if the vehicle is drifting out of its driving lane, and the system can also identify signs of inattentiveness or distraction in the driver.

When the system detects such behaviour, more alerts come from the satnav screen, and again, the seat-belt tightens around the driver to help raise the alarm.

Nissan says the concept was developed purely as an exploratory platform, but the serious side to this showcasing is that the technologies have tremendous potential for future production cars. The firm has already launched several initiatives to help prevent drink-driving: back in June, it introduced the drink-driving message alert on its navigation system, and last month, July, began the testing of a new on-board breathalyser system in co-operation with Japanese authorities.

In a further safety initiative, Nissan has developed an innovative pop-up engine bonnet lid to help reduce head-impact injuries in the event of a pedestrian collision. This safety feature will appear on the new Skyline coupé, to be launched in Japan in the autumn.

Like the lane-departure warning system, the idea of a more pro-active safety bonnet is not an entirely unique idea, and the pop-up hood simply helps minimise serious head injury by creating a protective buffer space between the hood and the engine components underneath. Upon impact, a sensor in the bumper activates the pop-up control-unit, which in turn triggers an explosive actuator that raises the bonnet.

Finally, insofar as cleaner air is concerned, Nissan is developing a cleaner diesel technology that will help its vehicles' emissions met ultra-stringent rules in California.

The firm's low diesel emissions will be achieved by research and development into a combination of combustion, catalyst, and advanced engine control system technology.

Thus, future Nissan vehicles will achieve cleaner diesel emissions in California, and they will also be able to meet the stricter regulations being imposed within the next few years in major global markets, including Japan and Europe.