Automated Braking Systems, Soon To Be Standard?

In the last few years, automotive safety has come a long way. Whether we are talking about lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control or blind-spot warning, manufacturers are working very hard to boost their cars' safety.

The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has been keeping a close eye on all these new technologies and decided to add two new gadgets to the list of equipment recommended by the NCAP (New Car Assessment Program). This program offers recommendations for new car buyers.

The two additions are Crash-Imminent Braking and Dynamic Brake Assist. The first system uses radar at the front of the vehicle to see if there is an obstacle in its path. If that’s the case, the system will apply the brakes if the driver does not. As for the second, it uses the same radar to measure the necessary brake pressure to stop before hitting the car in front. If the computer thinks the driver is not braking hard enough, it will apply enough pressure to stop the vehicle safely.

For now, this equipment won’t be mandatory for all new cars, but since nearly a third of all crashes in 2013 included rear collisions where the offending vehicle did not brake hard enough (or didn’t brake at all), the inclusion of these technologies could drastically lower the number of crashes.