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Call for AEB to be mandatory
Date: 18 May 2018 | Author: Sean Keywood
Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems should be made mandatory on new cars by the UK Government, according to Thatcham Research.
The motor industry body has made the plea following an announcement by the European Commission of new road safety proposals, including versions of AEB and intelligent speed assistance, to be applied in phases for new models from 2020.
Thatcham director of research Matthew Avery said: "Just as seatbelts are a legal requirement on all cars and vans, AEB should be as well.
"We have campaigned for many years for it to be standard on all vehicles, and with the latest AEB systems now capable of identifying pedestrians and cyclists, there is an opportunity for the UK Government to address the growing number of cyclist and pedestrian fatalities.
"We would hope that no blockers are put in the way by carmakers or parliamentarians around making these technologies mandatory on all UK cars and vans as soon as possible."
Thatcham has been campaigning for AEB to be standard for the past five years, citing research that states cars fitted with the system have a 38% reduction in real world rear-end crashes.
Thatcham says it has the potential to save 1,100 lives and more than 120,000 casualties over the next ten years.
It says the inclusion of AEB in Euro NCAP crash tests has helped drive adoption, with 54% of cars tested in 2017 having it fitted as standard.
However, in the UK only 30% of cars on sale have AEB as standard, as it is mostly offered as an optional extra.
