Effective Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) systems on passenger cars could prevent one in five fatal pedestrian collisions.
Euro NCAP’s announcement on pedestrian detection shows that new car technologies are here and now – and not waiting for when and if driverless cars become available.
The AA has consistently said that the real value of these advances in automation is in assisting drivers and not in taking over from them.
Most collisions occur when drivers fail to brake, brake too late or brake too gently – often because the driver is distracted or because the pedestrian crosses unexpectedly.
A new test
European safety organisation Euro NCAP is introducing a new test that will check how well vehicles autonomously detect and prevent collisions with pedestrians. With new vehicles offering more autonomous driver assist systems, Euro NCAP’s Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) Pedestrian tests will make it simpler for consumers and manufacturers to find out which systems work best.
These new tests are the first in the world to assess highly automated vehicle features and driver assistance systems from the pedestrian’s perspective. Many new cars now offer some form of AEB system that can help prevent car-to-car collisions, but only some are also able to detect pedestrians. By checking the results on Euro NCAP’s website, consumers will be able to verify manufacturers’ safety claims and choose the right AEB option.
Road users still need their wits about them
Edmund King, AA president, said: “While the autonomous car debate has so far focused on who is to blame, manufacturer or driver, when or if the technology fails, Autonomous Emergency Braking doesn’t absolve the driver from responsibility in an accident but could reduce the consequences considerably. Twenty per cent of pedestrian fatalities could be avoided with uptake of effective autonomous braking systems. However neither drivers nor pedestrians, cyclists and other more vulnerable road users should depend on all cars stopping automatically and so will still need their wits about them and shouldn’t take unnecessary risks.
“Euro NCAP has an impressive track record in showing what is possible in reducing road collisions and encouraging manufacturers to adopt the new features. Hundreds of thousands of road users owe their lives to this nearly 20-year-old programme.”
Need to focus on more vulnerable road users
Improved protection for drivers and passengers has helped lower Europe’s road death toll significantly over the past 20 years. Europe now needs new car technologies to address the number of pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists killed and injured on its roads every year.
In 2014 vulnerable road users accounted for almost half (47%) of Europe’s 26,000 road deaths. For every death, there are an estimated four permanently disabling injuries, such as damage to the brain or spinal cord, and eight serious injuries.
