AEB Technology Needs Improvement, Says AAA
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Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) has proved efficient when it comes to prevent rear-end wrecks, applying the brakes autonomously when certain conditions are met to avoid a crash. However, AAA set out to find out if the latest iterations of AEB are capable of operating at higher speeds and detecting moving vehicles, and found the technology a bit lacking.
AEB employs forward-facing cameras and an array of other sensors that detect if a crash is imminent, automatically applying the brakes to mitigate an unavoidable impact, or bring the vehicle to a stop and avoid an impact entirely. While it is capable of detecting if a preceding vehicle is stopped and avoid a rear-end wreck, AEB is not as efficient at avoiding more deadly wrecks, such as T-bones and erroneous left turns in front of oncoming vehicles.
AAA tested rear-end crash performance on vehicles equipped with front Automatic Emergency Braking, encountering stopped vehicles at 30 mph and 40 mph, well above the current mandated test speeds of 12 mph and 25 mph. The organization found that AEB-equipped vehicles prevented rear-end collisions in 17 of 20 test runs, reducing crash speed by 86 percent.
Meanwhile, in tests of intersection T-bones and unprotected left turns, AEB failed to alert its driver, and crashes occurred 100 percent of the time. Considering that 39.2 percent of traffic fatalities between 2016 and 2020 occurred due to T-bones or unprotected left turns in intersections, it is paramount that automakers focus on improving AEB technology to respond to such incidents.
One of the vehicles that AAA tested was the 2022 Chevrolet Equinox LT outfitted with Chevy Safety Assist. Interestingly, GM has been called out in the past for being behind the curve when it comes to producing vehicles with AEB technology as standard equipment. In a statement, a General Motors spokesperson said that GM “remains on track to meet the industry commitment to automatic emergency braking.”
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“The only thing that’s constant…IS CHANGE”
Speed kills. Duh? Test the technology above its mandated limits.
Did you read the caption under the lead photo. This was a test done in 2015. It’s 2022 now folks – that’s SEVEN years ago. Don’t ya think the technology may be just a little different now
“Fly straight”…it makes life easier.
“Ride the horse in the direction it’s going”….
There is no perfect situation. The fact is that AEB tech saves lives and seriously reduces the impact in cases where impact still happens. Yes, of course it will improve more and more….with critical thinking…..not just mindless criticism.
This has happened for decades, look at the introduction of seat belts and then air bags. Remember people said they rather be ejected through the windshield than to wear a seat belt and be trapped in a burning car?
People don’t want to confront the fact that they’re trading off their life, or worse, becoming a vegetable, over saving a few bucks and driving an old car. They don’t want to see the fact that somebody in a cheap-ass new Hyundai will live when they die in the same crash in their 15 year old car. So they invent things in their head to justify why new safety technology is invalid or kills more people.
Safety measures in cars aren’t meant save lives…they are meant to save the insurance companies from paying out huge claims. Your bumpers are made to absorb impact…so less quarter panel damage. Automatic breaking…doesn’t save you, it saves the insurance company’s bottom line.
Seat belts were implemented years after it was discovered they saved lives. Lee Iacocca said it would
cost an extra dollar to install them in the 50s , so, it wasn’t done. Not about saving lives….it’s about saving money.
Just ordered a 2022 Colorado last week z71 with the the bare bones safety package and i was just told I can’t get with the package. System had emergency braking. Yeah there on track all right. 2022 and no safety features. I would say gm could care less about people’s safety