Active Braking to be assessed by Euro NCAP

The so called AEB systems (Autonomous/Active Emergency Braking) have been the object of praise by Euro NCAP institution in the concession of its Advanced Rewards. They are a ‘family’ of devices that capture/analyze the circumstances of a potential inminent crash and alert the inatentive driver, or reinforce/substitute his/her action to apply  the maximum braking, mitigating or avoiding the crash. Studies estimate that such devices might reduce in more than 25% the amount of road accidents, many of them caused by distraction.

While AEBs are becoming more an more popular as an option, its availability is now far from standard in most cars. However, Euro NCAP plans to take them in account for its safety star rating as soon as 2014.

In the meanwhile, the entity offers in its website (www.euroncap.com) a list of available AEBs in the different manufacturers/models. For this purpose, Euro NCAP classifies AEBs in ‘City systems’, ‘Inter-urban systems’ and ‘Pedestrian systems’, depending on the working approach of each device.