It is the latest and most effective achievement in active vehicle safety in real-life accidents: the brake assistant. It could halve the number of fatalities in accidents, as required by the EU by 2020. Prerequisite: a standardized test procedure for collision and pedestrian protection systems.

"As a life saver, the brake assistant is worth its weight in gold," states Jens König from Dekra Stuttgart in his role as head of the vFSS (forward-facing frontal protection systems) working group. The goals are ambitious, but we are well on the way to achieving a standardized test procedure that is accepted throughout Europe. After all, this is an absolute prerequisite for a timely mass distribution of the brake assist system. According to Jens König, only when these systems are in the volume class will we have "leverage in real accidents", especially when it comes to pedestrian protection.

Manufacturers, suppliers and institutions want to decide on the "crash test" for active safety systems as early as 2013! "Automobil Industrie" spoke to the safety experts. An exclusive review in the May issue.

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"Automobil Industrie" is aimed at management in the automotive business. The monthly trade magazine has a circulation of around 10,000 copies and has been a must-read in the industry for over 50 years. Daily news from the entire automotive sector is available at www.automobil-industrie.de and in the regular online newsletter. The parent company Vogel Business Media is one of the leading German providers of specialist information with around 100 trade journals and 60 websites as well as numerous international activities. Its headquarters are in Würzburg. The company celebrates its 120th anniversary in 2011.