Automatic Braking Might Be Coming to Your Next New Car, Whether You Like It or Not

by Mark Stevenson

Published: September 12th, 2015

automatic braking might be coming to your next new car whether you like it or not

Safety technology tends to have a trickle-down journey. ABS, airbags, and other technologies we now take for granted have slowly bee adopted over the years and are now standard equipment. The next technology to join that group might be automatic braking — or autobrake — depending on from what company you buy your next new car.

Ten automakers, along with the NHTSA and IIHS, have agreed to make automatic braking standard on their cars going forward.

Those automakers include Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. Left out are Nissan, Honda, Fiat Chrysler, Hyundai, Kia and Subaru.

Automatic braking usually relies on any number of types of sensors to detect objects ahead. The technology has typically been reserved for safety packages as part of upper level trims.

#Autobrake #AutomaticBraking #IIHS #NHTSA #StandardFeature

Mark Stevenson

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7 of 143 comments

64andahalf on Sep 12, 2015

This is about centralized control and is being wrapped in a package of "safety" to get us to swallow it. In 10-15 years you'll realize I'm right and not crazy.

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- Athos Nobile on Sep 12, 2015
  
  Whether it's centralised control or not, the fact is that slowly cars are becoming more and more autonomous.
  
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- Brandloyalty on Sep 13, 2015
  
  Your view, which understandably is shared by many on a car enthusiast website, reflects an attitude that somehow driving is an essential and integral portion of human existence. It's probably not. So there's nothing wrong with cars being appliances to get from one place to another, and doing it in the most efficient and safe manner feasible. Don't worry, people still sing opera, play guitars, converse in Morse Code etc.
  
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Brandloyalty on Sep 13, 2015

Mobileye, which supplies some of the oem systems, has two modes of forward collision warning. One is active in stop&go creeping mode and the other works at higher speeds. Having tried one of their aftermarket systems, I have to say it worked amazingly well, even at night in the rain. To integrate it with the brakes seems like a no-brainer.

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Speedlaw on Sep 13, 2015

Please, please, please take these systems off laser and K band. Please. Every time the V1 screams, there is a volvo in the oncoming lane. The new Acuras get the award for K band pollution and range. I've driven a few BMW and m/b with lane departure systems and tailgate warnings. After figuring out the parameters of each system out of curiosity, I shut them off. I know when I'm changing lanes, so the vibrata in the wheel gets annoying, and I stay far away from other cars tailights-by the time the sensors went off I was way too close for my taste. Like the rest of us, I do have godlike driving skills, honed rallying, on the Autobahn, and fighting NYC traffic, and never make a error driving. I see these systems being more useful in a later generation, but that is way too close to "google car" and "no, you can't drive it".

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Richard Chen on Sep 13, 2015

I suppose this was politically easier to implement than breathalyzer ignition interlocks, which is low-hanging fruit from both a numbers and a technology standpoint. There exist on-car software based algorithms to estimate impairment, wouldn't be surprised if that's the next on-board nanny. http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/OVERVIEW/dpcc.html The press release about this announcement was rather vague: no timeframe and no mention of whether if it will be low (15mph) or high (25mph) speed auto braking would be the standard.

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- Speedlaw on Sep 13, 2015
  
  You can't compare the breath tester to active warning. The price point for each is different. You are court ordered to install, at a cost of $120 or so per month, for a year. If it fails, only one probationer is having a bad day. It is actively maintained by the owner of the equipment, which isn't the motorist. At the end of a year, it is pulled and probably reinstalled elsewhere. The vendor has an interest in his expensive in car breath tester. Look at some of the Junkyard stories. ABS usually works till the car is crushed....and the lane departure systems/tailgate systems have to have the same toughness. Their life and the life of the in car breath machine could not be more different.
  
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