Active & Preventive Safety Systems
Active & preventive safety systems are designed to avoid or mitigate collisions before they occur. The AutoSafe™ framework evaluates how reliably a vehicle can detect hazards, maintain lane position, regulate speed and monitor driver attention under a wide range of real-world conditions.
This domain is structured around Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Lane Support Systems, Speed Assistance & Adaptive Cruise Control, and Driver Monitoring Systems, reflecting the key technologies that shape modern crash avoidance performance.
Active & Preventive Safety Systems contribute 20% of the global AutoSafe™ score, recognising that preventing or significantly reducing the severity of a crash is as critical as protecting occupants once impact becomes unavoidable.
Active & Preventive Safety Systems show how effectively a vehicle can anticipate, avoid or mitigate collisions using AEB, lane support, speed assistance and driver monitoring functions.
AEB – Car-to-Car
AEB – Car-to-Car evaluates automatic braking performance in rear-end collision scenarios across urban, inter-urban and highway speeds. It examines how quickly and consistently the system reacts to braking, stopping or stationary lead vehicles in realistic traffic conditions.
As one of the major contributors within this domain, strong AEB C2C performance can significantly reduce the frequency and severity of common nose-to-tail impacts in congested traffic.
- Low-speed urban stop-and-go scenarios
- Lead vehicle braking and stationary obstacles
- Cut-in and cut-out manoeuvre handling
- Night-time and adverse weather coverage
- Δv (speed reduction) and time-to-collision response
Lane Support Systems
Lane support systems assist the driver in maintaining a safe lateral position and preventing unintended lane departures. AutoSafe™ looks at both continuous lane centering and corrective interventions when the vehicle drifts towards lane markings or road edges.
Particular attention is paid to how systems behave on roads with imperfect or missing lane lines, and how clearly warnings and interventions are communicated to the driver.
- Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) and lane-centering performance
- Emergency Lane Keeping (ELK) in oncoming traffic conflicts
- Lane Departure Warning (LDW) timing and clarity
- Behaviour on roads with poor or absent lane markings
Speed Assistance & ACC
Speed Assistance and Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) are evaluated in dynamic traffic and varying speed limit environments. AutoSafe™ considers how accurately the vehicle recognises applicable speed limits and how smoothly it manages headway to vehicles ahead.
The goal is to support drivers in maintaining appropriate speed and following distance over long journeys, without causing discomfort or unpredictable behaviour that could reduce trust in the system.
- Traffic sign recognition and map-based limit validation
- Over-speed warnings and driver feedback strategies
- Gap-keeping accuracy and control smoothness in ACC
- Reaction to temporary limits and school / construction zones
Driver Monitoring Systems
Driver Monitoring Systems (DMS) detect fatigue, distraction and non-attentive driving, and trigger appropriate escalation actions. This is especially important as vehicles move towards higher levels of assisted and semi-automated driving.
AutoSafe™ evaluates not only the ability to detect inattention, but also how the system responds: from initial warnings through to controlled deceleration if the driver fails to re-engage.
- Eye closure, head pose and gaze tracking analysis
- Phone usage and hands-off-wheel detection
- Stepwise escalation from warnings to controlled deceleration
- Performance in low-light and partially obstructed face conditions
Adverse Conditions & Consistency
Adverse conditions and consistency extend conventional testing by verifying how reliably systems perform when visibility and sensing conditions are degraded. AutoSafe™ looks for stable behaviour, rather than occasional strong results under ideal circumstances.
Repeatability, false-positive and false-negative behaviour, and graceful degradation when sensors are blocked or contaminated are all part of this unique AutoSafe™ emphasis on real-world robustness.
- Rain, fog, low-contrast and glare scenarios
- Repeatability across multiple test cycles
- Tracking of false-negative and false-positive events
- Graceful degradation when sensors are partially blocked
Scoring Summary
Active & Preventive Safety Systems are weighted at 20% of the total AutoSafe™ rating. Within this domain, AEB C2C performance is a primary contributor, complemented by lane support, ISA/ACC and DMS scores, with additional emphasis on operation under night-time and adverse weather conditions.
- AEB C2C as a major scoring component
- Combined contribution from lane support, ISA/ACC and DMS
- Night-time and adverse-weather multipliers applied
- Penalties for non-functional, unstable or easily disabled systems
Characteristics of High Performance
Vehicles achieving top scores in this domain typically demonstrate:
- Early, smooth and reliable AEB interventions in diverse scenarios
- Stable lane centering and effective lane departure prevention
- Accurate speed limit support and comfortable ACC behaviour
- Robust driver monitoring with clear, well-escalated warnings
- Consistent performance in poor visibility and sensor-challenged conditions
Next in the AutoSafe™ Standard
Digital System Integrity & Cybersecurity
Learn how AutoSafe™ integrates software update security, in-vehicle network protection and sensor spoofing resistance directly into the vehicle’s overall safety rating.