Brake Assist - By: Mykalanne Gutierrez

Do you sadly know someone who didn’t brake in time & just completely totaled their car? I’m really sorry; but on the bright side, now there’s something to help prevent it. It’s called Brake Assist & it’s a braking technology that intensifies braking pressure in an emergency circumstance. It’s those smallest fractions of a second that can cause a life-changing consequence.

In 1992, a study that was conducted by Mercedes Benz determined that more than 90% of drivers are unsuccessful when it comes to braking with enough force in order to prevent an accident. When a vehicle has Break Assist, it perceives situations where Emergency Braking is completely & utterly necessary. It does this by measuring how fast you press on your brakes. Some Brake Assist Systems also analyze the speed of how fast the gas pedal was released; people tend to lift their foot faster than normal when they are in a “Panic Mode”, which then triggers the Brake Assist. So if you think about it, when you slam on the brake petal, that’s when the Brake Assist comes alive. In certain studies, Brake Assist has been known to reduce typical stopping distance up to 20%-45%. The only thing is that Brake Assist Systems don’t really work all the time. In most situations, the car itself lets the driver decide when they want to brake & how hard they do brake. If your car just so happens to have a Collision Avoidance System, you know that this primes the braking system & even starts braking by itself so you can avoid an unfortunate collision.

Braking Systems are supposed to address several issues: one is Slow Reaction Times. When people are driving & see something dangerous coming their way, they tend to react very slowly & do not brake early enough to prevent the accident. The second thing it should address is Not Enough Pressure. When a vehicle has a Brake Assist System installed, it doesn’t really matter if the driver puts the minimum amount of pressure on the brakes, that’s what the System of for. Brake Assist applies the maximum amount of pressure without you having to do so; but that doesn’t mean you can drive & never pay attention. This system usually partners with ABS to keep you extra safe. Many people think that Brake Assist can pretty much save your life, but there is no need to take it that far & exaggerate. This system merely decreases the incidents & the severity of accidents.

The Braking Assist System was introduced to the world in 1996. It was installed on the Mercedes S Class & SL Class. Two years later in 1998, Mercedes made it standard on all of its models. Soon after this happened, Volvo & BMW followed their foot steps; but Volvo was the only one who put their own little “twist” on it. Their system is called the Collision Warning with Auto Brake (‘CWAB’). This system uses a radar to determine when an accident is more likely to occur & will then pre-charge the brakes so that full braking is applied regardless of how hard the driver pushes the pedal. If that isn’t enough, the car will also give you a warning sound & flash you a light alerting you that your car is going to “take over”; so try not to ignore it.

Try not think of Brake Assist as something that will save your life, just think of it as your trustful sidekick.

About the Author

OriginalWheels.com

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Mykalanne-Gutierrez/78512

Additional Articles From - Home | Vehicles | Cars