Emergency brake assist

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Brake assist (BA or BAS) or emergency brake assist (EBA) is a term for an automobile braking technology that increases braking pressure in an emergency. The first application was developed jointly by Daimler-Benz and TRW/LucasVarity. Research conducted in 1992 at the Mercedes-Benz driving simulator in Berlin revealed that more than 90% of drivers fail to brake with enough force when faced with an emergency.

By interpreting the speed and force with which the brake pedal is pushed, the system detects if the driver is trying to execute an emergency stop, and if the brake pedal is not fully applied, the system overrides and fully applies the brakes until the anti-lock braking system (ABS) takes over to stop the wheels locking up.^[1]

This is a lower level of automation than advanced emergency braking which is a collision avoidance system, which may initiate braking on its own if the onboard computer detects an imminent collision.