INVESTIGATION OF AUTOMOBILE ACTIVE SAFETY CONTROL SYSTEMS EFFICIENCY AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE DRIVER’S BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

The paper deals with the influence of active car safety systems on driver‘s behavior in emergency situations, i.e. emergency braking, steering angle, etc. Several models of real vehicles have been tested in order to analyse the ABS and ESP systems operation efficiency. The results of emergency braking and stability in real vehicle testing with ABS and ESP stability control systems switched on and off are presented in detail. In order to get the maximum impact of ABS and ESP systems (full activated) the real vehicles were tested on the asphalt paved road covered with wet snow. Tests were also carried out on the road sections with different pavement and state. The XL Meter Pro Beta measurement device was used for the real vehicle testing. The brakes and active safety systems of the vehicles have been tested for their effectiveness at different conditions: when the vehicle is braking on horizontal wet asphalt, and on an icy gravel surface, at a different initial running speed: 40km/h, 70 km/h and 100 km/h. During the real vehicle testing the stability during emergency braking resulted in the assessment of influence of active safety systems on handling the vehicle and its stability, and the driver‘s behaviour in emergency situations i.e. on a slippery road, or at sharp steering angle. The results of real vehicle testing have been presented in the paper in the form of charts. Examination of a vehicle emergency braking and stability systems results in the conclusions concerned with handling of the vehicle ad application of the above systems.