Driving safety. Avoid road accidents with the help of technology. For this, the European Commission proposed last year that the cars of the future have ADAS systems, driver assistance systems that will reduce the accident rate. Its purpose, under the Vision Zero slogan: save more than 25,000 lives and prevent 140,000 injuries by 2038. And in 2050, the goal is to reduce fatalities and serious injuries to practically zero .
Everything begins this year 2022, in the month of July. As has been reported by the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) over the past year, “all cars must incorporate eight driver assistance systems (ADAS) as standard”. Automated driving safety to avoid accidents. Specifically, the obligation will be for “new vehicles homologated in Europe from 2022, and new ones sold from 2024”.
ADAS is the acronym for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, in Spanish, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. The idea is that the car actively helps the driver. While safety measures at the wheel such as the seat belt or the airbag are focused on protecting people during an accident, ADAS systems want to avoid such accidents before they occur. This is how they protect the driver, passengers and pedestrians.
Mandatory ADAS systems since 2022
Eight are the ADAS safety systems at the wheel that must be incorporated by European homologated cars from this year and which will be mandatory in new vehicles sold from 2024. Their function, avoid accidents by helping the driver through technology.
The list of ADAS systems is as follows:
Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) Rear Camera with Cross Traffic Detection Unintentional Lane Departure Alert (LDW) Fatigue Detector and / or drowsiness BAS and EBB emergency braking system Vehicle lock with breathalyzer Black box (EDR) Seat belt alert in rear seats
Intelligent speed assist
We talked about the first last year when it was announced by the General Directorate of Traffic. According to its official magazine, “The ISA is a system that connects the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) with the Signal Recognition system through software, controlling its position on the road in relation to the limit of speed that governs each section ”. Specifically, “the vehicle uses cameras, radars and GPS in combination with a digital map”.
Unlike the speed limiter , the ISA system adapts automatically according to the section of track. You do not have to program it beforehand. In both cases, the driver cannot exceed the indicated limit .
Rear camera with traffic detection
The rear camera obviously helps to maneuver in reverse . But it has more advantages. They help to park and unpark, warn if there is an obstacle, fixed or mobile, or a person within 30 meters. On some models, you can stop the vehicle before collision with obstacles or other vehicles or collisions.
This ADAS system can use a 360 degree camera . In some cases, red arrows are superimposed on the screen to indicate the direction of the potential hazard. For the rest, it also has progressive audible warnings and, finally, the activation of the brakes.
Warning of involuntary lane change
The LDW (Lane Departing Warning) system alerts you if you change lanes unintentionally. Using a camera in front of the rear-view mirror or sensors, the vehicle detects the lines that delimit the lane at distances between 60 and 100 meters .
According to the official DGT magazine, “to complement the assistance, the evolution of this technology is the LKA (Lane Keeping Aid) or LKAS (Lane Keeping Assist System), a active lane keeping system that, given the possibility of leaving the path delimited by the lines, is able to move the steering wheel or, in some cars, intervene on the stability control (ESP), acting on the brakes and on the wheels opposite to those that step on the line ”
Fatigue and / or drowsiness detector
To prevent the driver from falling asleep at the wheel and, therefore, losing control of the vehicle, this ADAS system has the mission of detecting fatigue . For this, it has two safety measures behind the wheel. The first, the steering wheel itself. And the second, a camera. According to the General Directorate of Traffic, between 20 and 30% of accidents occur directly or indirectly due to driver fatigue.
The steering wheel has a sensor that analyzes the pressure exerted by the driver. Also the movements of the hands and the changes of direction. If it detects constant corrections or sudden movements, it is activated. As for the camera, monitors the features of the face , especially the eyes and the movement of the head. This system can also monitor how long the engine has been running. After two hours of driving or if it detects an anomaly, the vehicle emits a light signal on the dashboard.
Emergency braking system
BAS is the acronym for Brake Assist System and EBA stands for Electronic Brake Assist. They are actually the same technology, with two different names. This braking assistant makes it possible to shorten the reaction distance and is related to two vehicle systems that have been standard for years: ABS and stability control.
How does it work? Previously, using sensors, it detects the obstacles in front of us. Distinguish between pedestrians and other elements . With a light and sound warning, the driver is notified . When we brake suddenly or the intensity of the footfall is high, the system detects if that intensity is adequate. If not, the system applies the maximum braking intensity until we take our foot off the pedal. In other words, if you do not react to the warning, the braking is activated automatically. Also tighten the seat belts.
This emergency braking system in the face of unforeseen obstacles operates at speeds of between 5 and 40 kilometers per hour , which is usual in residential and / or urban areas. Newer systems also activate at higher speeds.
Vehicle lock with breathalyzer
According to data from the National Institute of Toxicology, in 2019, 45.5% of drivers who died in a traffic accident who underwent an autopsy tested positive for alcohol, drugs and / or psychotropic drugs . These data, compiled by the official magazine of the General Directorate of Traffic, support the importance of this ADAS system.
From 2022, vehicles homologated in Europe must have a pre-installed breathalyzer. In addition, it will include a start-up lock of the car that will be activated if the allowed limits are exceeded. Specifically, it analyzes a rate of between 0 and 2.5 milligrams per liter in a maximum time of 25 seconds.
The car screen will display the information. You must have internet access via WiFi and a memory to store 100,000 tests. According to the DGT, this system “incorporates technologies of fingerprint recognition, pupil, facial detection or digital photographs that are stored in memory to always identify the user and prevent the fraud ”.
Black box
Starting this summer, European cars will have black boxes, a safety device behind the wheel already used by airplanes. EDR is the acronym for Event Data Recorder, translated as event data recorder. Its mission is to record more than 15 variables, in addition to the day and time.
These variables are “vehicle speed, braking, engine revolutions, frontal and side impact force, steering movements, accelerator position, operation of safety systems such as airbags, belts or certain assistants”, etc. This data is intended to obtain better analyzes in the event of an accident in order to improve safety at the wheel by introducing new technologies and improving those we already use today.
Specifically, the black box will record the data during the 30 seconds prior to the accident or loss and the 5 seconds afterwards. Using a computer, the data can be extracted from the black box for its analysis and investigation of the event .
Seat belt alert in the rear seats
It is one of the most implemented measures for new vehicles of which we have mentioned previously. The seatbelt alert in the rear seats requires no explanation. It shows a visual warning on the control panel if any of the belts are not correctly fitted, in case that seat is occupied. The warning is also usually audible.
Depending on the model, this ADAS system is activated when the vehicle is on or when you start driving and exceed 25 kilometers per hour or more time than necessary to fasten the seat belt .
As a reminder, the seat belt is mandatory for the driver since 1974 and for the rear seats since 1992. However, a safety system as basic as this is still unused, especially by passengers. Otherwise, the rear seat belts are sometimes supplemented by the rear or side airbags, depending on the vehicle.
