Ford tests its automatic braking system in Paris rush hour

The streets of Paris are one of the most complex urban circuits in Europe. It is not a circuit driven at high speeds or in demanding competitions, but rather one of the most congested everyday urban routes on our continent. For this reason, it is one of the ideal places to test new technologies in cars under normal conditions.

The streets of the French capital were therefore chosen to test one of the safety features that will equip the new Ford Focus at the end of this year and that will be included in other models of the brand from next year. The Active City Stop automatic braking system had been tested on closed circuits, but now it has demonstrated its capabilities in urban traffic.

The automatic braking system of the Ford, called Active City Stop, is activated when necessary while driving at speeds below 50 km/h. Sophisticated distance sensors and light detectors scan the road 50 times per second and activate if it is necessary to reduce speed to mitigate a possible impact.

When the automatic braking system detects a risk situation, identified through those sensors, and notes that the driver is not reducing speed, it acts by braking the car, reducing engine torque and activating the hazard lights.

Several professional drivers drove through Paris, looking for places where traffic could pose a risk while driving, in order to check the normal operation of the system. Specifically, one of the most problematic areas was chosen, Place de l’Etoile, where 12 major avenues converge.

To avoid possible risks and accidents, the cars taking part in the test drove with the system switched off. Nevertheless, they had a series of sensors activated that recorded the car’s activity and monitored the moments when it should have activated.

The engineers of Ford have covered just over 4,000 km aboard several Ford Mondeo and Ford Tourneo Connect, which will be the first two vehicles to fit the new version of the system as standard. It was first introduced in 2011, and today 170,000 vehicles of several Ford models are equipped with it.

Other technologies will also be included in future models, such as the Perpendicular Parking system, which will allow drivers to park in parallel alongside other cars, and the Cross Traffic Alert, which warns the driver when leaving a parking space if another vehicle is approaching from behind.

The equipment is completed by Park-Out Assist, which helps the driver pull out of a parallel parking space. In addition, the engineers of Ford are working to implement Total Parking Assist, which will allow the car to park autonomously at the touch of a button.

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Source | Ford

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