Ford is on a roll with new safety and driver-assistance tech

Ford is on a roll as it announces its new safety technologies – cross traffic alert with braking, enhanced active park assist, evasive steering, and wrong-way alert. This is just an addition to the vast driver-assistance features of the blue oval brand.

Driver-assist technologies help us all be better drivers because they enhance our ability to see and sense the road around us,” said Scott Lindstrom, manager, driver-assist and active safety at Ford.

He also added that their investment in R&D has been paying off by innovation that expands their portfolio of driver-assist technologies. For Lindstrom, this delivers functionality and performance that customers will value.

The American marque said that these new features will be available on Ford vehicles within the next two years.

Evasive Steering Assist

Designed to operate at both city and highway speeds, the Evasive Steering Assist uses radar and a camera to detect slow to non-moving vehicles ahead, which in turn will provide steering and braking support to the driver to help avoid imminent collisions. Moreover, if the space is insufficient to halt, the car will be ready to steer out of danger. Watch the video above to see how this system works.

Wrong-Way Alert

On the other hand, Ford’s Wrong-Way Alert utilizes a windshield mounted camera and information from the car’s navigation system to check if the driver is in an opposing direction. The driver will then be alerted via visual and audio warnings.

Enhanced Active Park Assist

The Enhanced Active Park Assist allows the car to park/unpark itself. The said system controls the steering, gear selection, and acceleration - on both parallel and perpendicular parking. It’s an upgrade to the already awesome feature found on Ford Everest and Ford Focus.

Cross-Traffic Alert (with braking)

When backing out of a parking space, cross-traffic alert uses radar to detect and alert the driver of an oncoming traffic. If the driver doesn’t respond to the alert, the system will then automatically apply brakes to avoid the collision.

Moreover, new Ford cars are to have rear wide-view camera that will show a broad display from behind. This gives the driver “additional eyes” to see around corners.

Additional technologies underway

Aside from the mentioned safety and driver-assist features, Ford is currently developing additional technologies that will be available sooner than we think. These are Spot Lighting technology that uses an infrared camera to detect pedestrians, cyclists, and animals; Advanced Front Lighting System that widens the headlight beam at intersections and roundabouts; and Traffic Jam Assist that keeps the vehicle centered in a lane, while keeping in pace with the vehicle in front through braking and accelerating.

Of note, Ford has these high-tech features under their portfolio: Adaptive Cruise Control, Forward Collision Warning, Driver Alert, Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot Information System (BLIS), Active Park Assist, Automatic High-Beam Control, Hill Start Assist, and Curve Control. These are available, if not all, in their current lineup such as the Everest, Explorer, Focus, among others.

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