Ten manufacturers have committed to making automatic emergency braking, or AEB, as standard equipment on all new vehicles built. Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo – will work with IIHS and NHTSA on the details of implementing the safety technology, including the timeline for making AEB a standard feature. About 60% of new vehicle models include frontal crash prevention as standard or optional equipment right now.*
FCA, aka, Chrysler, which has more than its share of problems with DOT over safety matters, is notably for its absence.FCA as well as other automakers will face increasing pressure to add AEB as more systems are added at competitors.
The system is comprised of Forward Collision Alert, which warns the driver of a potential crash when it detects that a front-end collision may be imminent; and Forward Automatic Braking that automatically applies brakes when the system detects that a front-end collision is imminent, to help reduce the collision’s severity. This can also help avoid a collision at low speeds on current systems.
“We are entering a new era of vehicle safety, focused on preventing crashes from ever occurring, rather than just protecting occupants when crashes happen,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx at the dedication of IIHS’s newly expanded Vehicle Research Center.
IIHS’s newly expanded Vehicle Research Center.
Safety Advocates say it represents a major step toward making crash prevention technologies more widely available to consumers. This will be a moneymaker for the relatively few suppliers already in the business. AEB systems use on-vehicle sensors such as radar, cameras or lasers to detect an imminent crash, warn the driver and, if the driver does not take sufficient action, engage the brakes.
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