BONN: The new-car option that no driver should go without is an intelligent brake-assist (BA) system which interprets the traffic situation and slams on the brakes if a collision is imminent, German experts are saying.
What makes emergency stop technology so clever is that it compensates for weaknesses in human psychology. If you don't see the danger or don't act resolutely enough, the car will do it for you and maybe save your life.
In many of the systems, if the car detects a panic-stop situation, the driver will feel a buzz at the pedal. He or she can react to this or take avoiding action. Otherwise the full safe amount of available brake force is applied automatically.
"These devices can warn you in good time of an oncoming collision," said Welf Stankowitz of the German road safety organisation DVR. "If you fail to act, the system kicks in and applies the brakes of its own accord."
Experts say intelligent brake assist systems, depending on what sensors they use, can either prevent the accidents or at least reduce the force of impact in between 20 and 40 per cent of collisions.
A more basic technology, emergency brake assist, which keeps tabs on the speed of the vehicle and the brake pedal force being applied and exerts maximum braking force after any sharp stab at the brake pedal, has been mandatory in all new cars in the European Union since 2011.
The more advanced systems bring data from a camera or radar into the mix to "see" dangers the driver may not notice.
Unfortunately it seems many prospective new car buyers are not aware the extra stopping power is not a fun luxury but a life saver.
A survey commissioned by the DVR showed that 60 per cent of new cars sold in Germany are not fitted with advanced driver aids that rely on cameras such as brake or lane assist.
Asked why, nearly half of respondents said the systems were not available for the car they had chosen to buy, while 34 per cent were completely unaware at the time that such systems existed.
Only 16 per cent had regarded the safety devices as too expensive and 9 per cent had believed the systems would bring them no benefit.
