Euro NCAP has published the results of its survey on the availability of Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) systems in Europe and has said that it will include the technology in its assessment programme from 2014. This move is likely to see more European car markers make use of this radar braking technology, good news in safety terms, but not good news for bodyshop volumes as the systems can reduce accidents by up to 27%.

 The Euro NCAP survey reveals that AEB is completely unavailable on 79% of models on sale in Europe and two thirds of manufacturers do not offer an AEB system on any of their new car models at present. Autonomous Emergency Braking systems help to avoid accidents or mitigate the severity of damage by warning the driver and supporting braking response.

Such systems are more commonplace on models from premium manufacturers, especially Volvo, Infiniti, Mercedes Jaguar, Range Rover, Audi and Lexus. However, manufacturers such Mazda, Fiat, Ford, Honda and Volkswagen are now making AEB available as an option on some volume models.

Michiel van Ratingen, Secretary General of Euro NCAP says "A faster penetration of these technologies into new cars will make it more realistic for the European Union to reach its target to cut road deaths by 50% by 2020. Consequently, Euro NCAP has decided to include AEB assessments as part of the overall star rating from 2014 onwards and hopes that European authorities will soon require AEB as mandatory on all new vehicle types."