Advanced emergency braking systems (AEBS) are systems that detect an impending forward collision, warn the driver and, if the driver takes no action, automatically apply the vehicle’s brakes to avoid or mitigate the severity of the collision. For M2, M3, N2 and N3 category vehicles (i.e. buses, coaches, trucks and tractor units), the fitment of AEBS was mandated by EU Regulation No. 661/2009; more commonly referred to as the General Safety Regulation or GSR, with the mandatory fitment requirement coming into effect from November 2013.
Within the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE) forum, UN ECE Regulation No. 131 on advanced emergency braking systems (AEBS) was developed to specify the technical and performance requirements for the AEBS of heavy vehicles. In 2013, when this Regulation was first published, advanced emergency braking systems were still in a relatively early stage of their development and the performance requirements specified within the original version of this Regulation were set at levels to reflect this.
Since that time, there have been significant advances in AEBS technologies, and EU Regulation No. 2019/2144; more commonly referred to as the General Safety Regulation 2 or GSR2, has now mandated the fitment of AEBS to M1 and N1 category vehicles (i.e. passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles, pick-up trucks and vans). Furthermore, (EU) 2019/2144 introduced requirements for M1 and N1 category vehicles to be fitted with AEBS which are capable of detecting both pedestrians and cyclists. Within the UN ECE forum, a completely new UN ECE Regulation, ECE 152, has been developed to specify the technical and performance requirements for the AEBS of these light vehicles.
In September 2020, the UN ECE Working Party on Automated/Autonomous and Connected Vehicles (GRVA), recognised that it would be expedient to revise UN ECE Regulation No. 131 to reflect the latest state of the art technology for AEBS and to align its requirements more closely with those specified in UN ECE Regulation No. 152, where practicable. To undertake this work, a specific Informal Working Group (IWG) was set up and, between November 2020 and April 2022, this IWG met ten times. The results of the work undertaken by this IWG were published as an 02 Series of Amendment to UN ECE Regulation No. 131 on February 21, 2023.
The changes introduced by the 02 Series of Amendments to UN ECE Regulation No. 131 are extensive, but the main changes can be summarised as follows:
- More detailed and more stringent performance requirements for the vehicle to moving vehicle scenario (i.e. when the test vehicle is approaching a vehicle moving at a slower speed) are introduced. Vehicle speed reductions to be achieved at relative speed differences between 10km/h and 100km/h are now specified.
- More detailed and more stringent performance requirements for the vehicle to stationary vehicle scenario (i.e. when the test vehicle is approaching a stationary vehicle) are introduced. Vehicle speed reductions to be achieved at initial speeds between 10km/h and 100km/h are now specified.
- New requirements, including a new test procedure and performance requirements, to cover AEBS which are capable of detecting pedestrians crossing in front of the test vehicle are introduced. Such systems must be active and operate at least between 20km/h and 60km/h. (Note: The Regulation allows for a vehicle to be type approved to only the vehicle to vehicle requirements, to only the vehicle to pedestrian requirements or to both the vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to pedestrian requirements.
- Additional requirements to minimise false activations of the AEBS, including a number of specific test scenarios to confirm that the AEBS will not activate when not required, are introduced.
- More detailed specifications relating to the situations where it is permissible to manually or automatically deactivate the AEBS are introduced.
With regard to introduction dates, the transitional provisions contained in ECE 131.02 specify that, compliance will become mandatory for new types of M2, M3, N2 and N3 category vehicle from September 1, 2025, and will become mandatory for all new M2, M3, N2 and N3 category vehicles from September 1,2028.