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Mercedes originally invented the brake assist system in the 1990’s.
Their tests showed that although many drivers, especially women, reacted quickly in emergency situations, they did not apply enough pressure to the brake pedal to be completely effective.
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Their results also showed that drivers tend to apply the brake with less force in the initial stages of a potentially dangerous situation, and then increase the pressure as they moved further into that situation. The time spent in making the decision to apply the brakes with full force, even if it was only a delay of a split-second, meant that the car was not able to stop as soon as it would have if full pressure had been applied to the brake pedal immediately.
Other studies also made engineers believe that the pulsing experienced when antilock brakes were engaged was mistakenly interpreted as a problem by inexperienced drivers, who then reduced the pressure on the brake pedal too early and inadvertently increased their risk of an accident.
Mercedes theorized that if the car could sense when a driver was applying the brakes in a panic stop situation and automatically go to full force, regardless of how hard the driver pushed the pedal, stopping distances could be greatly reduced and many accidents avoided as a result. |
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