Abstract
Functional safety has become one of the most critical and complex challenges in modern automotive engineering due to the rapid evolution of software-intensive, autonomous, and intelligent vehicle systems. The ISO 26262 functional safety standard provides a comprehensive framework for managing risks associated with electrical and electronic automotive systems; however, its practical implementation faces increasing tension with agile development practices, model-based engineering, artificial intelligence integration, and the growing complexity of vehicle architectures. This research article develops a comprehensive, theory-driven, and practice-oriented analysis of contemporary approaches to ISO 26262 compliance, focusing on agile safety cases, model-based hazard analysis, simulation-driven verification, fault injection, safety mechanisms, and emerging AI-assisted safety engineering methods. Drawing strictly from the provided academic and industrial references, the study synthesizes established and emerging methodologies into a unified conceptual framework that reconciles rigor, traceability, and regulatory compliance with flexibility, scalability, and innovation. The article elaborates deeply on the theoretical foundations of safety cases, semantic relationships among engineering artifacts, automated verification pipelines, AUTOSAR-based safety validation, and ASIL-oriented hardware and software design. Special emphasis is placed on the integration of artificial intelligence into safety-critical systems, addressing the transition from traditional quality management to high-integrity ASIL-D compliance. Through extensive descriptive analysis, the article identifies key findings related to verification efficiency, safety argument robustness, and lifecycle sustainability, while also critically examining limitations, unresolved challenges, and future research directions. The study contributes an original, publication-ready synthesis that advances academic discourse and provides practical insights for researchers, safety engineers, and policymakers navigating the future of automotive functional safety.