All road vehicles should have autonomous emergency braking

woody10381

My personal view; in principle, I can see no reason why this is a 'bad' thing to have fitted to your car. As others have mentioned, the system should be completely transparent to drivers who already anticipate, react in good time, leave plenty of distance in front, etc.

Its ok to say that the technology is relatively immature but for me that's irrelevant; if it is currently being marketed as a safety feature and fitted to cars being sold today, then manufacturers should already be able to prove that AEB is as infallible and reliable as ABS and other driving aids.  

At the same time however, I'm strongly against 'convenience' systems that dilute basic driving skills that all drivers should be able to demonstrate. Automatic parking technology is one of my personal pets hates; if people (excluding someone whom may be medically impaired), don't have the skills to position their car into a space without damaging it then they probably shouldn't hold a licence.

There is a balance to be struck between a 'last line of protection' and an over-reliance on automation that results in drivers believing that the on-board technology will always save the day. The aviation world is littered with examples of accidents where over-reliance on systems designed to ease workload and improve safety - has resulted in diminished basic flying skills, a lack of situational awareness and has ultimately contributed to the accident itself.

Obviously motor vehicle are far less complex, but there are parallels - especially with more and more 'smart' technology being introduced.

Doug the D

Whilst I'm in agreement with @mjn, the driver should be paying attention and braking effectively at all times (as per the highway code ), I do also see the value in such safety systems. I certainly won't be handing in my airbags because I believe I should be alert enough to avoid an accident - they happen (that's why we (rightly or wrongly) call them 'accidents' and not 'on-purposes').

I thought I'd throw in an anecdotal tale for your consideration. A couple of years ago, a colleague of mine was driving an Audi A4 with this system installed. As he was heading down a slip road to join a motorway, a flattened cardboard box on road in front of him was lifted by the car in front driving over it. The cardboard covered the sensor in the grill of his car and the system brought his car swiftly to a stop (he described it as the most scary emergency brake ever). So, 70mph to 0mph, with cars behind you whilst approaching a motorway - not good.

Whilst I admit that this tale seems very unlikely to happen frequently, I wonder how often it does happen. My friend didn't report it to Audi afaik, which won't help things either.

Trollslayer

The same issue with the post about the crisp packet, they really can appear as a big object to radar sensors.

nvingo

So
So the cardboard covered the car's 'eyes', and it reacted in the same manner that the driver should do if cardboard obsured the view through the windscreen. We really do need to eliminate all litter.

Trollslayer

The braking is sudden, a driver could brake more gently because off all the traffic behind.
'Smart' cars aren't.

imightbewrong

Aren't what?

The Dude

Panic braking at the sight of a crisp packet would be an instant fail on your driving test, while definitely a good idea the technology clearly isn't ready yet.

Good driving isn't about good reaction times it's about good decision making, based on what ACC seems to have done to many people's motorway driving I don't think we're any more ready for auto-brake than we are auto-steer.

IronGiant

woody10381

It's for this sort of reason, that systems like AEB should be considered as aids to driving only - they cannot replace driver observation, anticipation and situational awareness. It will also (probably) form the basis of the arguments put forward by every manufacturer as to why they won't be responsible nor liable for any accidents that result from events such as this one.

imightbewrong

Ah right sorry - I thought it was going to be a comment on sensor fusion or rear vehicle awareness.  I retract my question.