Scientist working the in the field of intelligent vehicles have developed predictive braking systems that help prevent rear-end collisions. When a particular car gets dangerously close to the car in front of it, the system warns the driver or automatically applies the brakes.

“Driving is indeed a “dangerous task”, where split second decisions avert or cause accidents.” Scientist Mohan Trivedi explained in an interview with PhysOrg.com. “It is important for Intelligent Driver Assistance Systems to be reliable, trustworthy and do not distract drivers from the primary task of safe driving.” Fellow scientist Joel McCall expounds on the IDAS technology.

The system captures information about the driver by observing the driver’s head, facial movements (such as the lips), and foot movements, including pedal position, pressure, and hovering. This information is integrated with information about the vehicle and environment, such as acceleration, proximity to other cars, steering wheel position, and use of turn signals. A computer in the vehicle’s trunk captures and synchronizes the data from the different sources.

““IDAS are gaining prominence among most major automobile research and development centers,” said Trivedi. “I expect that elements of the intelligent braking systems, similar to those discussed in our paper, would find their way in selected models within the next five years or so.”

The European Commission is backing the Electronic Stability Control technology that is said to drastically reduce road accidents. This “e-safety” feature is pinpointed as the key technology to help reduce road fatalities across Europe. Recently, the European Commission has launched a “Choose ESC” campaign to raise awareness of the said technology. The European New Car Assessment Program (Euro CAP) works hand in hand with the commission in promoting this endeavor.

More than 40,000 people die and more than 1 million are injured on Europe’s roads every year. Loss of control–often from skidding–has been identified as a major cause. ESC detects when a car is about to skid and applies different brake pressure on individual wheels to stabilize the vehicle and avoid a skid developing. It greatly improves handling in wet and icy terrain, particularly slippery pavement, which reduces the risk of accidents by up to 20 percent.

Viviane Reding, European commissioner for information society, said to the public that the Commission sees the campaign as the first step towards cars standardized with the ESC by the start of 2012.

Generally, the take-up of ESC has been relatively low in the European continent. Denmark and Sweden are the top two countries that holds the largest proportion of vehicles fitted with Electronic Stability Control as a vehicular standard. On the other hand, Ireland and Malta dwindle at the bottom ranks as ESC sometimes being not an option. This is according to the survey conducted by the Euro NCAP.

A similar regulation was announced at the New York International Auto Show. The U.S. Department of Transportation issued a remark that the ESC system is highly acknowledged to supplement a safety contribution to braking technology. The new rule will require United States automakers to begin outfitting new cars with ESC systems beginning with the model year 2009. Soon they’ll be engineered as an automobile standard equipment by model year 2012.

Tony Goldsmith won the New Zealand Motorsport SS2000 championship for two years in a row. He finished first place with his Datsun HP510 just behind Brian Gray’s Mazda RX7. According to Tony, he was braking issues for several years back before he started using EBC Brakes. He now uses the EBC Yellowstuff compund which proves to be a critical part in race navigation.

Well, braking technology is the realm of EBC Brakes. It is without a doubt that Tony’s success will still flourish in the upcoming races as EBC is there to accompany him all the way.

Champion of the 2005 Australian Touring Car Challenge Garry Willmington is set to return to the highly competitive field of V8 Giants. Willmington was announced to drive the AU Falcon V8 Giant in the fourth round of the ATCC at the Queensland Raceway on June 16. Powered by a 5-liter pushrod V8 engine, equipped with the 4000 R Series EBC Brakes YellowStuff, and weighing in at 1300kg, the AU Falcon has been a success under young guns Brad Lowe, who piloted the supercar to victory in the first round of the race. Round 4 will be Willmington’s first race in over 12 months. His last outing was in the 2006 ATCC on board an older model EL Falcon.

The Australian Saloon Car Company feted EBC Brakes in the recently concluded Mallala leg of the 2007 Australian Motor Racing Series. The largely pastoral lands of Mallala, an hour north of Adelaide, stood silent witness as saloons, kart, and bikes battled hard tracks and high humidity. A V8 SS Commodore driven by Derek Hocking claimed top honors for the saloon car category. It won the race over close No. 2 Drew Russell, driving a bright orange Honda S2000. Both cars displayed to the full extent the EBC Brakes YellowStuff capability, as one lap into the checkered flag both drivers rode side by side and tried to outdo one another. “Our Motorsport involvement allows us to monitor our products in extreme conditions,” EBC Brakes released in a statement. The performance reiterated the “value for money” of EBC Brakes, the statement added.