Modern cars are chasing technology like never before driver assistance systems increasingly sophisticated. Some of them have even become mandatory, such as automatic emergency braking from this summer 2022 in the European Union.

Vehicle safety organizations such as the prestigious Euro NCAP take into account many driver assistance systems in their car safety assessment, so the rating system is becoming increasingly strict.

Automatic emergency braking: an important safety system

in automatic emergency braking systemwhich is now in many vehicles today, is able to analyze the car’s surroundings with the help of sensors and cameras and control the braking of the car in the event of a dangerous situation, in particular with a better reaction time than the driver to reduce the consequences of a collision.

But if this system did not exist not so effective ? Indeed, an American study, which we owe to the organization AAA (American Automobile Association), confirms that automatic emergency braking is very effective in the event of an accident that occurs at low speed, but becomes less effective while driving at normal speed.

How did past cars behave in the event of an accident? The answer is in this video of typical American models from the 70’s facing a tough crash test. https://t.co/oHC64Vc5c8

— AutoPlus (@AutoPlusMag) September 11, 2022

Automatic emergency braking: minor change

To prove it, AAA has tested four cars equipped with an automatic emergency braking system: Chevrolet Equinox LT, Ford Explorer XLT, Honda CR-V Touring, as well as Toyota RAV4 LE.

The American organization concluded that automatic emergency braking functions correctly for the intended task, but since the system was launched some twenty years ago, it has not evolved because the standards for road accidents at slow speeds have not evolved either. Therefore, the results of the AAA test vary depending on the driving scenario as well as the speed of the vehicle.

Automatic emergency braking: mixed results

During the tests, AAA replicated two crash scenarios that are among the most common and result in the most fatal collisions: side-on collisions and left turns at intersections where vehicles are traveling in the opposite direction, reversing. In these situations, the automatic emergency braking systems of the tested vehicles did not detect the danger, did not warn the driver and did not brake the vehicle automatically.

During rear-end collision tests, the automatic emergency braking systems worked correctly, but were displayed mixed results depending on the situation: at a speed of 50 km/h, the system prevented 85% of collisions, but at a slightly higher speed, for example, at 65 km/h, this figure drops to only 30%. AAA research then highlights lower efficiency as speed increases.

According to a study by insurance company AXA, the risk of a collision would be higher for electric vehicles because of their power. https://t.co/sa3ZOKSQSG

— AutoPlus (@AutoPlusMag) September 1, 2022