Ford has used rush-hour traffic in one of Europe's most hectic cities as a real-world testing ground for the latest iteration of its Active City Stop system.
The US car maker announced yesterday (July 31st) that a crack team of professional drivers had successfully trialled the automatic braking technology in Paris, France – ranked among the ten most congested cities on the continent.
This included the arduous task of navigating the infamous Place de l’Etoile at Arc de Triomphe junction, where 12 major highways converge and cause chaotic traffic conditions.
Ford's new Active City Stop system operates at speeds of up to 30 mph, scanning the road 50 times per second for vehicles in front and alerting the driver if a rear-end collision appears to be imminent.
If the motorist fails to respond to this warning, the technology automatically applies the car's brakes, reduces engine torque and activates the rear hazard lights.
For the test, Ford disabled the braking feature and relied on the professional drivers' instincts, but was able to monitor the system to see when and where it would have kicked in.
The company's engineers examined this information to determine whether or not the technology would have prevented a collision. They found that despite Paris' challenging traffic conditions, the new Active City Stop system came up trumps and is now signed off as production-ready.
It will debut in the upcoming Ford Focus, set to go sale in Europe later this year.
Nils Gerber, a technical expert from Ford's Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering arm, described Paris traffic as "not for the faint-hearted".
He continued: "We knew these streets would be perfect to help test Active City Stop in conditions that are simply not possible to replicate on the test track."
Pascal Houssais, one of the professional drivers who took part in the test, agrees: "Paris is a very good place for this kind of test – you encounter all kinds of driving situations," he commented.
Posted by Bob Fletcher