More time for collision avoidance

05/08/11
Shane Gladstone

The European Commission has given firms more time to develop the radar used by car collision-avoidance systems.

A spokesman said that instead of ending in two years' time, manufacturers will be able to work with the current anti-collision radar frequency until 2018.

It is thought the move could lead to the technology being fitted to more news cars over the coming years.

A spokesperson said: "The commission has removed a potential barrier to fitting collision-avoidance radar into cars, and the car industry now has to take up the challenge to develop new systems."

Research from Thatcham showed that rolling out radar-controlled Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) to all cars would bring down the number of accidents on UK roads. It said that around 2,700 injuries to pedestrians could be avoided if the technology was introduced.

A separate study by NHTSA showed that fewer car insurance claims were made by drivers of Volvo XC60s boosted by AEB, when compared with drivers of Volvos without the technology.