In order for a vehicle to earn the European New Car Assessment Programme’s (Euro NCAP) ultimate rating, certain safety features must be fitted first and foremost. From 2014 and beyond, gathering up a Five-Star rating will surely become even more difficult than it already is as in order to do so, a vehicle must be fitted with an Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) system. Able to detect potential accidents, the system can mitigate a vehicle’s brakes to stop without any input from the driver.
“Real world performance data suggests AEB systems can reduce accidents by up to 27%,” said the Euro NCAP. As impressive as that may be, the device is far from universally used and according to an Autoblog article, just 21 percent of vehicles sold in Europe are available with auto brake. The NCAP is well aware of this issue but even still, they firmly believe that AEB can be a hero. “Although the introduction of these active safety technologies is reducing road deaths and injuries, the availability of AEB in Europe is far from standardized.”
The final decision was made due to survey revealing how prominent the system is. In an effort to reduce vehicle fatalities in the European Union by 50 percent by 2020, the evaluation experts will push for the acceptance of AEB. As headstrong as most manufactures are, especially when it comes to safety ratings, auto braking will surely find its way side-by-side with traction control and stability control and do so very soon.
Source: Autoblog.com
