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New car safety testing programme now includes automatic cyclist collision avoidance (+video)

Nissan Leaf is first car to be accredited under Euro NCAP's 2018 protocols - securing 5 stars...

Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Programme), the organisation that rates new cars sold in Europe according to a number of safety criteria, has added cyclist detection technology to the features sought from vehicle manufacturers, with the new Nissan Leaf securing 5 stars under the latest, tougher testing regime.

The vehicle, the previous version of which received 5 stars in 2011, is the first to have been tested under new protocols introduced by Euro NCAP this year and which are aimed at being more extensive and tougher than the existing ones.

New tests featuring in Euro NCAP’s latest assessments include cyclist detection through autonomous emergency braking (AEB)  technology, which has been tested for the first time on the Nissan Leaf and has been combined with AEB Pedestrian under a new designation called AEB Vulnerable Road Users (AEB VRU).

In this video Matthew Avery, director of research at Berkshire-based vehicle safety specialists Thatcham Research, explains how AEB works around cyclists.

Euro NCAP, established in 1997 by the Transport Research Laboratory for the UK Department for Transport  and now backed by several European governments and the EU as well as motoring, consumer and insurance organisations, said:

Detecting cyclists presents new challenges to car manufacturers, both from a hardware and a software perspective: sensors must have a wide angle of view to detect fast-moving cyclists in good time, and complex algorithms are needed to ensure correct identification of potential collision threats while avoiding false activations.

Robbert Verweij, a board member of Euro NCAP and senior policy advisor at the Dutch Ministry of Transport, said, “It was the drive to save cyclists’ lives which inspired the Dutch government to fund a major project which led to the development of a protocol for detecting cyclists. 

“We are honoured that Euro NCAP has decided to add this protocol to their rating scheme. This first Euro NCAP release of a AEB-Cyclist-equipped vehicle shows what the joint efforts of governments and cyclists’ associations can achieve in collaboration with Euro NCAP.”

Other features featuring in the tests for the first time include pedestrian detection in darkness and obscure lighting conditions ,and Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK) systems which enable vehicles to autonomously take evasive action if the car is in danger of leaving the road or of colliding with another vehicle. 

Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP, commented “These latest updates in Euro NCAP's active safety testing focus on both the protection of those inside the car and those who share road-space with it. 

“Our new assessments demonstrate the increasing level of sophistication that can be achieved by connecting various sensor systems installed on the vehicle.

“As the cost of these systems drops and computing capabilities increase, standard vehicles will soon become able to help prevent significantly more complex real-life crashes.”

He added: “Euro NCAP seeks to encourage this trend and in the context of a safe systems approach, will continue to challenge auto makers to deliver the highest levels of safety performance as standard, for car occupants and vulnerable road users.”

While Euro NCAP tests are voluntarily, the fact that results are cited regularly by the motoring press when reviewing new models encourages manufacturers to sign up for the programme and they are seen as having made a major contribution to road safety in Europe over the past two decades.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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7 comments

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Rich_cb | 5 years ago
2 likes

The report is here:

https://www.euroncap.com/en/results/nissan/leaf/32742

It does detect cyclists when they are parallel to the car so will hopefully prevent some close passes.

It's also worth bearing in mind that this is the first generation of this technology so it's likely to get much better in the future.

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duk31nlondon | 5 years ago
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It'll have to be really clever or it will be disabled by most drivers. Riding in London involve close passes galore, and that's not always the fault of the car driver. I wonder how it will cope with cyclist riding between lanes on slow moving traffic, as I frequently do.

It won't be funny very long if the equiped cars in the opposite direction automatically slam the brakes.

Avatar
Spangly Shiny | 5 years ago
3 likes

Could this possibly be the beginning of the end of the close pass? Pass too close and your brakes are applied.

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burtthebike replied to Spangly Shiny | 5 years ago
2 likes

Spangly Shiny wrote:

Could this possibly be the beginning of the end of the close pass? Pass too close and your brakes are applied.

They changed the vid half way through me typing this comment!

It is unlikely that this will prevent close passes, as all the avoided collisions shown were at right angles, which while it is useful, is far from comprehensive, and they didn't demonstrate detection at other angles.  My guess is that only a small proportion of cyclist/car collisions are at right angles, and therefore this will have limited value.  I imagine the detection rate of cyclists with the current technology falls dramatically if the vehicles are not square to each other.

What it might do is induce bad driving because drivers will assume that it will detect cyclists and avoid them, when it won't, which is a recipe for disaster.

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ricardito replied to burtthebike | 5 years ago
0 likes

burtthebike wrote:

It is unlikely that this will prevent close passes, as all the avoided collisions shown were at right angles, 

The one I watched (top one) also includes some rear-on examples.

Remains to be seen what passing distance the system will allow...

Avatar
SoBinary replied to Spangly Shiny | 5 years ago
7 likes

Spangly Shiny wrote:

Could this possibly be the beginning of the end of the close pass? Pass too close and 

... a D lock is activated to bring the cyclists presence to the attention of the unaware driver.

Avatar
Spangly Shiny replied to SoBinary | 5 years ago
0 likes

SoBinary wrote:

 

... a D lock is activated to bring the cyclists presence to the attention of the unaware driver.

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