Major automotive players collaborate in #StopTheCrash campaign

Firms to host demonstrations at London Motor Show

Thatcham Research, Bosch, Continental and ZF TRW are joining forces at the London Motor Show as part of the Global NCAP #StopTheCrash partnership. Their goal? To ensure consumers considering buying a new car ask three questions, the group believe are life-saving, namely:

1. What Euro NCAP test rating does this car have?
2. Is Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) fitted to this car – and is it standard?
3. What else should I do to maximise the safety protection offered by this car?

By providing visitors to the show with these three key questions, Thatcham, Bosch, Continental and ZF TRW hope to help reduce the annual UK toll of 100,000 rear end crashes and to make certain that consumers ensure the highest level of safety on their next car.

A report released by Euro NCAP in 2015 found that Autonomous Braking systems were responsible for a 38 per cent reduction in real-world rear-end crashes. Despite these statistics – and the fact that vehicle manufacturers have made good progress in making the technology available – AEB is currently only standard fit on 17 per cent of new cars currently on sale in the UK.

Demonstrations showing the safety advantage provided by Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) will run throughout the London Motor Show and visitors to the #StopTheCrash stand will be able to check which new cars have AEB as standard using an online resource that is hosted on the Thatcham Research website – thatcham.org/aeb-fitment.

Tyre safety will also be highlighted, with representatives from Continental on hand to demonstrate the effect that low tread depth can have. The UK legal limit for tread depth is 1.6mm, yet the partners highlight tests that show tyres only perform at 55 per cent efficiency with this amount of wear.

Continental recommends replacing tyres when tread depth reaches 3mm as a responsible compromise between safety, economics and driver confidence, and is focused on educating drivers on the reasons why this is important.

“Research shows that three quarters of all collisions occur at speeds under 20 mph,” commented David Ward. “Even the most basic AEB system in conjunction with sensible tyre safety could prevent the vast majority of these incidents.”

Led by Global NCAP #StopTheCrash is a multi-stakeholder partnership working towards their shared commitment to promote advanced vehicle safety technologies in support of the UN’s Global Goals and the Decade of Action for Road Safety.