Safety Wars: Nissan to Add Standard Crash-Prevention Feature to Majority of 2018 Models

by Steph Willems

Published: June 8th, 2017

safety wars nissan to add standard crash prevention feature to majority of 2018

In the 1950s and 60s it was the horsepower war, followed soon after by the fuel economy battles of the 1970s and 80s. Today, the peace of mind that comes from available safety features competes with horsepower, environmental sensitivity and connectivity to win the hearts and minds of new car buyers.

Owning a vehicle that can head off a crash by itself is a tantalizing prospect for many drivers. With the industry already heading in that direction, Nissan has decided to add automatic emergency braking as standard equipment on eight of its 2018 models.

Announced today, AEB will come to the bulk of Nissan’s lineup for the 2018 model year. That includes the Rogue and Rogue Sport, Murano, Altima, Maxima, Leaf, Pathfinder and Sentra — effectively doubling the number of Nissan vehicles with the feature. For those unfamiliar with the technology, AEB uses radar to judge the proximity and speed of the vehicle ahead, applying the brakes if the driver fails to respond

There’s an asterisk next to the Sentra, however. Manual transmission and NISMO models will not come with the feature. As well, select Armada models will offer AEB, but it won’t be standard across the range. Bad news for Versa buyers, not to mention Frontier, Titan, 370Z and GT-R shoppers, but Nissan doesn’t plan to stop the technology’s proliferation.

The automaker is among a group of car companies — representing virtually all light-duty vehicles sold in the U.S. — who agreed last year to install AEB in all models by September 1, 2022. Regulating the safety feature into all vehicles would have taken an extra three years, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has stated. The agency believes standard AEB will reduce collision-related insurance injury claims by 35 percent.

“This increased AEB availability is part of our ongoing commitment to help reduce fatalities while realizing our comprehensive vision of Nissan Intelligent Mobility.” said Michael Bunce, vice president of product planning at Nissan North America, in a statement.

[Image: Nissan]

#AEB #AutomaticEmergencyBraking #Nissan #ProductPlanning #Safety #StandardFeatures

Steph Willems

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7 of 12 comments

Mriach77 on Jun 08, 2017

"Bad news for Versa buyers, not to mention Frontier, Titan, 370Z and GT-R shoppers" Is it "bad news" in the case of the Z car, and GTR? Do the buyers of these cars really want that tech in said vehicles?

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- Bikegoesbaa on Jun 08, 2017
  
  Were I buying one I'd absolutely want it, with the option to disable on a case by case basis if desired.
  
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- Steve Biro on Jun 08, 2017
  
  @bikegoesbaa Better think that one through carefully, bikgoesbaa. Think about the society we live in. If your vehicle is equipped with AEB, you'd become vulnerable to lawsuits every time you turned it off. Idiot blows a light and broadsides you? Who cares if we both know AEB can't do anything about a crash from that angle? How difficult would it be for any competent lawyer to convince a simple-minded jury that you were at fault? "You mean you had automatic braking and you intentionally turned it off? Why? Who in their right mind would do that?" I prefer not to have that kind of "driver aid" myself. They're only for the most inattentive and incompetent drivers out there.
  
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- Mcs on Jun 08, 2017
  
  My son's iA has it. One dark night in a heavy storm he was coming up the driveway and the car just stopped and refused to go. He took a closer look and what had happened was that tree branches had fallen, but had stopped about 3 feet above the pavement so his headlights didn't pick them up. The AEB system did and stopped the car. AEB might also help in those situations where the throttle gets confused for the brake pedal.
  
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- Bikegoesbaa on Jun 09, 2017
  
  @Steve Biro I would only turn it off on a closed course or in an unusual event such as a failure. I have no desired to disable a properly functioning autonomous braking system on the street. I've done a good bit of research into automated braking and am convinced of its value, even to a competent and attentive driver. Even in the unlikely event that you are an infallible driver I would think you would approve of all the *other* inattentive incompetents out there having autonomous braking so that they are less likely to hit you.
  
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- Bikegoesbaa on Jun 09, 2017
  
  @bikegoesbaa Also, note that airplane pilots are generally neither incompetent nor inattentive and they don't seem to have many objections to a whole suite of automated assistance features to help deal with hazards or even override operator errors. It is more likely that: (A)They are not as skilled as you -or- (B)They have a more realistic understanding of their own limitations
  
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Tekdemon on Jun 09, 2017

Seems like a direct response to Toyota bundling a big package of this stuff with most of their new cars. Hopefully more manufacturers do the same thing so we don't have to buy the highest trim line of a car just to option radar cruise control.

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