Understanding the functionality of emergency brake assistance:
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Rear-end crashes frequently lead to vehicle damage, injuries, and sometimes fatalities. Emergency braking aids are designed to prevent or lessen the severity of these incidents.
An emergency braking aid is a safety feature in vehicles that activates, often in the presence of an imminent collision with stationary objects or other road users, to prevent or reduce the impact of rear-end collisions. It's always on the lookout for potential hazards, constantly monitoring and assessing the situation ahead.
The primary tools it uses are sensors, such as radar, optical cameras, and more recently, lidar technology. The latter offers exceptional spatial and depth resolution, making it faster and less computationally demanding than traditional camera technology. These sensors allow the vehicle to 'see' other vehicles, pedestrians, or road obstacles.
Data and images are continually analyzed
The sensors feed real-time data and images to the vehicle's central processing unit, which is then subjected to continuous analysis. The vehicle's speed, distance to other objects, and overall traffic situation are evaluated. The vehicle's own speed and steering are also considered in the assessment.
If the emergency braking aid's software detects that a collision is imminent, it decides whether braking is necessary to avoid the crash. If the driver doesn't react quickly enough, the aid steps in.
At first, the driver is typically warned visually and/or audibly of an impending collision. If there's no response from the driver, like hitting the brakes, the aid intervenes in the braking system.
If a danger is identified, the emergency braking aid boosts the braking force. This means the brakes apply more force than the driver would during a regular braking maneuver, thus decelerating more effectively. If the driver does brake, the braking force is further increased.
In critical situations, brakes can engage without driver input
In extremely critical situations, the emergency braking aid can bring the vehicle to a full stop without any driver input, to avoid a collision or minimize its impact. This is known as autonomous emergency braking.
It's not uncommon for the emergency braking aid to activate due to its sensors detecting an impending crash. However, from the driver's perspective, this could be a false alarm if they intended to avoid the obstacle anyway. In this situation, the driver can override the emergency braking aid, for example, by accelerating and steering appropriately.
The emergency braking aid, also known as a collision avoidance system, is now widely recognized as a valuable safety feature with high crash prevention potential. As a result, the EU has made this aid mandatory in new cars, similar to seat belts, ABS, or ESP. Since summer 2022, car manufacturers have been unable to obtain type approval for vehicles without an emergency braking aid. Starting summer 2024, every newly registered car must be equipped with an emergency braking aid.
The activation of emergency braking aids can prevent or mitigate the severity of road accidents, such as rear-end collisions. Failure to respond to the warning signs from the aid in time could result in the system taking control of the braking system, bringing the vehicle to a halt to avoid a potential collision.
