Audi Lane Change Assistant (LCA) / Blind spot monitoring rewarded by EuroNCAP Advanced

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Blind spot monitoring

Blind Spot Monitoring is detecting other vehicles located to the driver's side and rear. This system helps you avoid a crash with a vehicle in the lane next to you by continuously screening the blind spots to the side of your vehicle.

On a motorway, a car which is far behind and can be clearly seen in the rear view mirrors. The Blind Spot Warning Light does NOT flash (red circle)

 As the fast approaching car in the drivers nearside lane enters the zone of the radar or camera, the Blind spot monitoring warning light flashes intermittently

As the car approaches, a point is reached where the car cannot be seen in either the interior or exterior mirrors. Typically this occurs when the car is just behind and to one side of the vehicle it is overtaking.  It is a common mistake for drivers to change lanes when there is a vehicle in this so-called “blind spot”, a manoeuvre which causes many accidents on European motorways.

Driver signals to enter lane (green circle) to nearside lane on left BUT then the Blind Spot Monitoring Warning light starts to flash continuously (red circle) indicating in time to the driver that a car is present in the blind spot. A potential collision is thus avoided.

As the other calls pulls away, the Blind Spot Monitoring light no longer flashes (red circle) and so the driver again indicates (green circle) to move left and then enters the nearside lane, safely. See Video below.

Several manufacturers have developed systems which monitor the blind-spot and help a driver change lanes safely. Some systems are camera-based, others rely on radar. Either way, the area to one side and rearward to the vehicle is monitored and the driver is warned when there is a vehicle in a position where it may not be seen in the rear view mirrors. Source: Euro NCAP

Audi Side Assist is a technology designed to help drivers to change lanes safely. Two radars, one on either side of the car, are mounted in the rear bumper.

At speeds above 30km/h, these radars monitor the traffic in a zone which extends from around 70m behind the car to a point just ahead of the driver, and includes the so-called ‘blind-spot’. However, Audi Side Assist does more than simply check for vehicles in this blind-spot. By measuring the distance and speed of vehicles approaching from behind, Audi Side Assist is able to calculate whether or not a change of lane would be hazardous.

If there is no apparent intention by the driver to change lane, a light situated in the door mirror on the relevant side of the car is illuminated. The light provides information to the driver that there is a potential threat. If the driver uses the direction indicator to signal that he intends to change lane, the warning light flashes more intensely, signifying to the driver that the manoeuvre he is about to make is potentially dangerous. The system works when the car is overtaking as well as when it is being overtaken, to ensure that the car can be safely returned to its lane.

What is the safety benefit?
Audi Side Assist is a technology developed by Audi to help drivers to make safe lane changes amongst traffic moving in the same direction at speeds above 30km/h on highways. The distribution of injury severities in accidents involving a lane change is similar to those which occur across all accident types. Audi Side Assist operates at speeds above 30km/h and is designed to address lane-change accidents which are typical of highway and motorway driving. Accordingly, it has the potential to help avoid higher-speed accidents and more severe injuries. Estimates vary as to the benefit which might be expected. One analysis predicts that lane change assistance technologies could affect around 20% of off-path fatalities in Sweden. Audi estimates that, in the accidents which could be addressed by Audi Side Assist, some 80 percent of the injuries are currently fatal or severe, compared to around a half for all accident types.

How has the system been assessed?
Audi have tested the system extensively during its development. Controlled tests were done on a track to establish the correct response of the system in a wide variety of overtaking manoeuvres, covering a range of relative speeds between vehicles. These trials were also used to ensure that, to the extent possible, false warnings are avoided i.e. that no warning is given for vehicles which are not in the adjacent lane, and which do not pose a threat. In addition, extensive road testing was done by professional drivers in different traffic and weather conditions. A customer survey has been used to demonstrate a high level of satisfaction by users, a critical parameter in ensuring continued use.

What are the limitations?

1. Audi Side Assist does not switch on by default at the start of each journey. 
2. The status of the system is stored in the key and automatically returns to the last setting used by the user of that key. 
3. The driver can manually turn the system on and off. 
4. In bends, Audi Side Assist may react to a following vehicle which is two lanes away, not in the next lane. 
5. Similarly, if lanes are unusually narrow (in road works, for example), the system may warn of vehicles in a non-adjacent lane. 
6. The system depends on clear detection by the two radars which might be impaired in adverse weather conditions (very heavy rain or snow etc). 
7. A mounted trailer might interfere with the radar’s operation. 
8. Audi Side Assist is automatically turned off when a trailer is connected to an Audi towing bracket but must be manually deactivated for trailers connected to brackets of other makes.

Availability
Audi Side Assist is rewarded for its availability on the Audi A4, on which it is offered as an option. The system is also available on other vehicles which have been tested by Euro NCAP, such as the Audi Q5 and Audi Q7.

Source: Euro NCAP

EuroNCAP Advanced - Car Active eSafety awards

Source: EuroNCAP

Paris - Euro NCAP presented the first Euro NCAP Advanced rewards at a press conference held on October 1st 2010 at the Paris Motor Show. Ten technologies developed by car manufacturers were rewarded for offering scientifically proven safety benefits.

Euro NCAP Advanced is a Euro NCAP initiative in response to the rapid development of new technologies available when buying cars for which there is no independent assessment. By rewarding advanced technologies, Euro NCAP is now providing an incentive to car manufacturers to accelerate the standard fitment of important safety equipment across their model ranges as well as offering more comprehensive guidance to consumers about the safety of new cars, helping them to make the right purchase decision.

The organization has rewarded the first set of manufacturers for their efforts in their development of new safety features. The 2010 rewarded advanced technologies are:

• Audi Side Assist 
• BMW Assist Advanced eCall 
• Honda Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) 
• Mercedes-Benz PRE-SAFE® and PRE-SAFE® Brake 
• Opel Eye 
• Peugeot Connect SOS 
• Citroën Localized Emergency Call 
• Volkswagen Lane Assist 
• Volvo City Safety

Euro NCAP Advanced is open to any technical system that has a proven safety benefit, whether it is primary, secondary or tertiary, as long as it is available as an option on one of the Euro NCAP tested cars and not already addressed by the current star rating.

The overall rating consists of an independent verification of a car by Euro NCAP based on crash tests and published protocols, The Euro NCAP Advanced assessment is based entirely on manufacturers’ data generated in their own defined test conditions and rigorously analysed by a team of experts appointed by Euro NCAP. In addition, Euro NCAP Advanced requires manufacturers to identify exactly what the safety impact of their technology may be in European countries, taking into consideration the different infrastructure, jurisdictions and at times driver behaviour.

Car manufacturers are pleased that Euro NCAP is launching an initiative which raises awareness of significant systems offering a safety benefit. Dr van Ratingen said: ‘Carmakers were involved in the development of the process and were very keen to get their systems into the assessment. We ended up having almost too many dossiers to cope with and we have more coming up in the next months, which is a clear sign that the industry is actively driving safety improvements, even when green cars are top on the agenda.’

Most systems rewarded at the Paris Motor Show were developed a few years ago and have been in the marketplace for at least a year or two. In the future, Euro NCAP Advanced will be able to use the methodology to assess completely new technologies, tackling areas of safety which have not yet been addressed.

Sometimes, it has proven very challenging for some carmakers to present a convincing case on which the Euro NCAP Advanced reward can be based. Not all of the technologies put forward in this first set of assessments have been rewarded. However, manufacturers can further develop their dossiers to demonstrate more clearly the benefits of their technologies, and Euro NCAP would be happy to reassess their systems at that stage.

So far, the dialog with manufacturers on their technologies is helping Euro NCAP to better understand the issues with the current generation of systems and fully digest the way carmakers have evaluated the performance of their systems both in laboratory tests as on the real roads.

The reward systems works two ways: on one hand by rewarding new innovations, Euro NCAP is now helping accelerate uptake of important safety features with the aim to make consumers more aware on the availability and function of these systems.

On the other hand, this ultimately provides Euro NCAP with the knowledge to develop future protocols that might be included in the current star rating. Indeed, the overall rating system with its four pillars is designed to make inclusion of new methods, as early as 2013, thus challenging vehicle manufacturers to make all-round safer cars.

Euro NCAP is confirming that other technologies will be assessed in the coming months and will be announced in 2011. Detailed information about the 2010 rewarded technologies, their safety benefits and the related cars is now available on Euro NCAP’s website: www.euroncap.com

For more details, please contact Marie Brasseur, Communications Manager at email or +32 2 4007746.

Euro NCAP Advanced will reward manufacturers at Paris Motor Show

13th July 2010: At eSafety Challenge at Millbrook Euro NCAP announced Euro NCAP Advanced, a reward system for new and emerging safety technologies.


Recent technological advancements have considerably broadened the automotive safety landscape. Features like Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot Monitoring, Attention Assist, Autonomous Braking and Emergency Call are increasingly offered as options by car makers on their newest models. However, with so many technologies entering the market, and with no independent advice on the safety benefit they offer, many consumers are left feeling confused.

Euro NCAP Advanced aims to provide car buyers with clear guidance about the safety benefits which these new technologies offer them and their families. The new reward system, complementing Euro NCAP’s existing star rating scheme, will recognize and reward manufacturers who promote those new safety technologies which have a scientifically proven safety benefit. By rewarding technologies which may currently be fitted only on luxury models or as options, Euro NCAP will provide an incentive to manufacturers to accelerate the standard fitment of important safety equipment across their entire model ranges, bringing safety benefits to all.

Many of the technologies are so new that no accepted standards exist to assess them. Euro NCAP has developed a unique methodology which allows the potential safety benefits of any new technology to be determined. Unlike Euro NCAP’s well established assessments involving physical tests at a crash laboratory, the new process is based entirely on the assessment of scientific evidence presented by the vehicle manufacturer. An independent panel of experts looks at the extent of the safety problem which a new technology aims to address. Through a logical and rigorous analysis of the way in which the technology has been developed, tested and validated, and from any real-world experience that may exist, the system’s performance and its expected effectiveness can be determined. Recognition of the potential benefit of these new technologies in no way undermines the importance of basic crash safety: cars are eligible for a Euro NCAP Advanced reward only if they have already achieved a creditable three star rating in the overall rating scheme.

At the eSafety Challenge in Millbrook, Dr Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP said “With these rewards Euro NCAP will add a new dimension to its mission. From now on consumers will be able to learn more about the benefits of advanced safety systems in their car and consult Euro NCAP for advice before deciding on purchase. Collectively we can make another step forward in effectively reducing traffic fatalities and injuries on European roads.”

At the upcoming Paris Motor Show in October 2010, the association will reward the first set of manufacturers for their efforts in their development of new advanced safety features. Information about the rewarded technologies will be posted on the car’s webpage of Euro NCAP’s website.