New Braking Systems: Good Reason For Everyone To Buckle Up

New Braking Systems: Good Reason For Everyone To Buckle Up

NHTSA is recommending that two braking systems be added by vehicle manufacturers to reduce injuries and fatalities. They are crash imminent braking (CIB) and dynamic brake support (DBS). Crash Imminent Braking (CIB) and Dynamic Brake Support (DBS) are specifically designed to help drivers avoid, or mitigate the severity of, rear-end crashes. CIB systems provide automatic braking when forward-looking sensors indicate that a crash is imminent and the driver has not braked, whereas DBS systems provide supplemental braking when sensors determine that driver-applied braking is insufficient to avoid an imminent crash.  This technology will be added to the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). The program is designed to help consumers make better choices about choosing safer cars.

"According to NHTSA data, one-third of all police-reported crashes in 2013 involved a rear-end collision with another vehicle at the start of the crash. The agency also found that a large number of drivers involved in rear-end crashes either did not apply the brakes at all or did not apply the brakes fully prior to the crash. Crash imminent braking and dynamic brake support systems can intervene by automatically applying the vehicle's brakes or supplementing the driver's braking effort to mitigate the severity of the crash or to avoid it altogether." These features are already available in some high-end cars.

• Read complete press release
• View NHTSA's Automatic Emergency Braking System Research Report released in August 2014.

Excerpt from CPS EXPRESS March 2015. Submitted by Kim Herrmann, Safe Kids Worldwide (Ft. Myers, Florida)