The Goal of the SAFESPOT Integrated Project is to understand how intelligent vehicles and intelligent roads can cooperate to produce a breakthrough in road safety. The system should extend in space and time the driver’s awareness of the surrounding environment and detect in advance the most potentially dangerous situations. Wireless communication, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure, are used to exchange information and warning in real time. This paper presents how a detailed road accident data analysis in European countries was used to design the infrastructure-based applications of the system. The potential impact of the system in terms of safety is also presented.