Award honours innovation and safety separately
Last week, in this column we presented the five finalists for the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada’s (AJAC) Best New Technology Innovation award. This week, the candidates for the Best New Safety Technology take their turn.
For the first time, AJAC’s technology awards will be presented in separate categories for innovation and safety.
Secret ballots from a jury of 15 technically qualified AJAC journalists are being compiled by the accounting firm KPMG, which will release the results at an award ceremony in January.
Following, in alphabetical order by automaker, is the shortlisted entries in the safety category, along with a brief overview of each one. Infiniti: Predictive Forward Collision Warning. Launched in the 2014 Infiniti Q50 sedan, this system is a world-first technology that makes use of existing hardware on the vehicle to provide safety information that isn’t directly available to the human senses.
Specifically, it uses the forwardlooking radar inherent in the car’s cruise control and distance control assist systems to “see” beneath the vehicle ahead and monitor the vehicle ahead of it — a particularly helpful feature when following a minivan, truck or bus that restricts vision around or in front of it.
PFCW can determine if the vehicle two ahead is decelerating rapidly and warn the driver via visual and audible alerts and haptically, by tightening the seatbelt. Mercedes-Benz: Pre-Safe Brake with Pedestrian Recognition. Each of the four Mercedes-Benz finalists is part of a suite of technologies combined under the label Intelligent Drive in the new S-class.
Pre-Safe Brake is a driver-assist system to reduce the danger of rear-end collisions and mitigate the consequences if collisions do occur.
It monitors the traffic situation ahead of the vehicle through radar sensors and a 3D stereo camera, and reacts to vehicles ahead, within a speed range from 7 to 200 km/h, as well as to stationary or slowly moving pedestrians in a speed range from 7 to 72 km/h.
If the system identifies a risk of collision, it provides the driver with both visible and audible warnings and, if the driver fails to react adequately, it initiates autonomous braking to either prevent the collision or reduce the impact speed as much as possible. Mercedes-Benz: BAS Plus with Cross-Traffic Assist. This system helps reduce the risk of rear-end collisions, as well as collisions with crossing traffic, pedestrians and bicyclists at intersections.
Cross-traffic assist adds continuous monitoring of the traffic situation ahead through radar sensors and a 3D stereo camera, identifying crossing traffic and bicyclists at speeds up to 72 km/h, as well as pedestrians who are stationary or moving slowly in the path of the vehicle If a collision is imminent, it gives both visual and audible warnings and, if the driver applies the brakes too lightly, it increases brake pressure automatically — up to full brake application if necessary — to prevent or mitigate the severity of the collision. Mercedes-Benz: Pre-Safe Plus. This is an occupant-protection system that initiates preventive measures before an impending rear-end collision when the vehicle is stationary. It uses radar sensors in the rear bumper to monitor the traffic behind the vehicle and it locks the brakes of the stationary vehicle if the driver keeps the brake pedal depressed or if a Hold function is activated or the shift selector lever is in the “P” position. It also initiates occupant-protection measures such as reversible belt tensioning and it maintains the increased brake pressure for two seconds after an impact to prevent the vehicle from rolling forward, while restoring manoeuvreability after the impact. Mercedes-Benz: Pre-Safe Impulse. This system is designed to reduce the risk of injuries during a frontal impact, when the driver and front passenger are subjected to very high loads within fractions of a second. It does so by tensioning the seat belt during the early phase of an impact and accelerating the occu- pants against the direction of the impact. It relaxes the retraction as a controlled energy-reducing process at the moment when the peak loads occur. The combination of preacceleration and force limitation enables the occupants to be temporarily isolated from the most severe loads of the crash.
As with the Innovation finalists, they are all worthy contenders. What would your choice be? wheels@thestar.ca