Emergency braking systems 'could save lives'

Date: 23/5/2011

New technology now being fitted to cars in the UK could help to reduce the number of pedestrian fatalities recorded each year, it has been claimed.

Thatcham, the motor insurance repair research centre, says it has commissioned intensive study into this area and that now AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking) is helping to protect road users.

Technology including radars, lasers and cameras are employed by the system to automatically bring a vehicle to a halt if it detects that it is about to collide with a pedestrian.

The group believes that once AEB is rolled out in all new cars, an estimated 64 deaths and more than 650 serious casualties could be prevented each year on UK roads.

Meanwhile, research carried out by Thatcham and Loughborough University is to be used to define test procedures that can then rate the technology after pinpointing the most common accident scenarios.

Matthew Avery, Thatcham research manager, says: "We are working alongside vehicle manufacturers to help develop them further in the future - and would encourage the inclusion of such systems as standard fit in new cars."

According to recent research from the Road Safety Foundation, simple improvements like markings and speed reviews introduced on 15 UK roads have helped more than 300 people avoid death or a lifetime of care as a result of an accident.

Posted by Sarah Bailey