THE automatic emergency braking (AEB) system. is a vehicle safety technology designed to help avoid collisions by detecting obstacles and automatically applying the brakes if the driver does not react quickly enough.

Mandatory system on European cars from 2022

The system uses a set of sensors such as cameras, radars, or lidars constantly monitor the road ahead or behind the car. These sensors detect potential obstacles such as other vehicles, pedestrians or fixed obstacles (walls, barriers, pillars, etc.). After detecting an obstacle, the system assesses the level of danger based on the distance, the speed of the vehicle and the detected object. It determines whether a collision is imminent and whether intervention is required. If this is the case and the driver does not react by braking or maneuvering to avoid the obstacle, it automatically activates the brakes. This can be done by applying additional pressure to the brakes if the driver has already started to brake, or with assistance fully apply the brakes if the driver does not notice any action. Approved by the European Parliament in 2019, AEB is mandatory for all new vehicles entering the European Union from 6 July 2022. But is this system really effective? Not really, if you believe a recent American study that indicates its effectiveness in real conditions…

Serious security risk

The AAA Foundation for Highway Safety has just released its report based on a study of four SUVs sold in the United States. The test focused on the detection and response capabilities of embedded systems hybrid Hyundai Tucson, Lexus RX 350, Mazda CX-30 and Volkswagen Tiguan. Please note that here we are not talking about emergency braking in the front, but in the rear, and more precisely about lateral movement, when a pedestrian or vehicle passes behind a vehicle as it is backing out of a parking space. The results turned out to be far from expectations: in the case when a car appeared behind the vehicle at a speed of 24 km/h, the braking system worked only 65% ​​of the time. Worse, it was only able to avoid a collision 2.5% of the time… For the second scenario, including a child pedestrian, the system performs better with the brakes activated 75% of the time, avoiding a collision 50% of the time, leaving only half of the time! AAA emphasizes that while automatic emergency braking can save lives by preventing collisions, it is very important that drivers understand its limitations and continue to be attentive and responsive when they are driving to ensure their safety and especially the safety of other users.

Thus, these aids help the driver more, but do not replace him, especially in the case of imminent danger…

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