Pedestrian AEB comes out top

15 January 2017

All ten finalists in this year’s What Car? Safety Award featured Pedestrian Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) as standard. Pedestrian AEB was only introduced for Euro NCAP testing from June 2016, with the aim of reducing the 400 pedestrian deaths which occur on British roads every year.

Thatcham Research, in partnership with What Car, have named the Toyota Prius the safest car of 2017. Winning this year’s top What Car? Safety Award, Toyota was praised for its unceasing commitment to safety, with many advanced driver assistance systems fitted to the Prius as standard.

Testing for Pedestrian AEB systems was introduced in 2016 as the latest Euro NCAP Five-Star award requirement, with vehicles checked to see how well they autonomously detect and prevent collisions with pedestrians. All ten cars judged for the What Car? Safety Award 2017 feature Pedestrian AEB as standard, a huge step forward in vehicle safety technology and a monumental achievement for road safety campaigners. Thatcham Research which sponsors the award estimates that AEB systems have the potential to save 1,100 lives and prevent more than 120,000 injuries over the next ten years.

Reverse AEB detects potential obstacles in the path of a reversing vehicle and automatically applies the brakes to slow or stop, thus avoiding a crash. Studies show that parking damage accounts for up to 25 per cent of all insurance claims in the UK and 75 per cent of these are for damage caused while reversing.

The full 2017 list included: Alfa Romeo Giulia, Audi Q2, Ford Edge, Hyundai Ioniq, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Peugeot 3008, Renault Scenic, Seat Ateca, Toyota Prius and VW Tiguan.