NHTSA Uses New Tech to Test Vehicle Braking System

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the US is taking driving safety to new heights with plans to utilize a new test system called Strikeable Surrogate Vehicle (SSV) to test Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) systems in the country.

The SSV comes with a carbon target, which simulates the rear end of a car. During the test, the innovative system mimics a vehicle ahead of it, which is registered by the test specimen’s assist system and activates an evasion or braking maneuver.

The US New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) is anticipated to embrace AEB as a recommended safety technology in the evaluation criteria for all new vehicles. All of the leading carmakers including Audi, Nissan, and Volvo currently use AEB along with other technologies to bolster passenger safety.

MESSRING, a German crash test facility, presently uses the SSV, which has already become standard in both Europe and Asia.

NHTSA development partner Wolf Composite Solutions, a carbon fiber manufacturer based in the US, has also developed a new hybrid solution for testing which merges the SSV target with the benefits of EuroNCAP towing system from MESSRING.

Wolf Composite Solutions is anticipated to handle the sales and service for the “Hybrid” solution with the European original towing system and the SSV.