Ford speeds up R&D of active safety features in vehicles

16 July 2008

Mumbai: Ford Motor Company is beefing up active safety features of its vehicles with plans to offer more new product features and technologies to cater to its consumers' needs. The company is also ramping up research and development into next-generation accident avoidance safety technologies.

In 2009, Ford will introduce three new active technologies including adaptive cruise control, BLISTM (blind spot information system) with cross traffic alert and a third technology to be named later in 2008. These features will complement Ford's industry-exclusive AdvanceTrac with RSC (roll stability control) system, which already comes as a standar feature in millions of Ford products.

Ford will introduce the three new active technologies initially in the 2009 Lincoln MKS and later equip other Ford vehicles. The new adaptive cruise control radar-based system monitors traffic in front (up to 600 feet) and adjusts the speed of the vehicle to keep it a safe distance behind the lead vehicle. Four settings accommodate different driving styles for trailing distances. The feature is a major building block for next-generation systems such as forward collision warning.

Ford's new cross traffic alert feature will help warn drivers of impending traffic while reversing by using radars to pick up moving objects within a 65-foot range from either side of the vehicle. Two warnings are given - an indicator lights up in the corresponding outside mirror and an audible alert is sounded. The feature works in conjunction with Ford's radar-based blind-spot monitoring system, utilisng this system's two multiple beam radar modules, which are packaged in the rear quarter panels - one per side.

The radar identifies when a vehicle enters the defined blind spot zone and illuminates an indicator light on the corresponding sideview mirror providing a warning that a vehicle is approaching.

According to auto experts consumers are increasingly seeking safety features in the vehicles they drive. In a recent survey, consumers listed vehicle safety technologies as more than half of their Top 20 wants. At the same time, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) research show teens and older drivers, the two driving populations that are involved in the most accidents, now constitute a growing majority of motorists in the United States.