Collision Avoidance System: Everything You Need to Know

Picture yourself driving on a busy highway when the car ahead suddenly brakes hard. Your mind races, and you slam on your brakes to narrowly escape a crash. That split-second decision and reaction saved you from an accident. 

How about having a system that could have alerted you before you even sensed the danger and initiated braking?

Well, that’s what a Collision Avoidance System is all about.

CAS is like a vigilant co-pilot that uses sensors to continuously monitor surroundings and processes data to identify potential hazards. 

With timely warnings and corrective actions, such as automated braking or steering, CAS helps ensure safer journeys. 

In this blog, we are going to discuss in detail what a CAS is, how it works, what types they are, and how they benefit you. 

So, let’s start. 

What Is a Collision Avoidance System (CAS)?

A collision avoidance system (CAS) is a safety system that helps prevent accidents or minimize the impact of crashes.

For that, CAS detects potential hazards, alerts drivers, and even triggers preventive actions to avoid a collision. It, thus, assists drivers in ensuring safety and security while driving. 

How Does a Collision Avoidance System Work?

Different components work together to help avoid collisions. 

Let’s discuss how they help. 

1. Sensors and algorithms: 

They include sensors like radar, lasers, cameras, and artificial intelligence algorithms to monitor your vehicle’s environment in real time.

2. Hazard detection: 

These systems determine potential hazards in your vehicle’s vicinity to gauge the probability of a collision.

3. Warning and alerts

On sensing a potential collision, CAS sends visual, auditory, and haptic warnings to drivers so they can respond proactively to avoid it.

4. Automated actions

Some advanced CASs provide automated braking and steering adjustments to prevent accidents if drivers fail to respond quickly. 

Types of CASs

There are three types of CAS: Pre-crash warning systems, active avoidance systems, and mitigation systems

1. Collision warning systems (CWS):

As the name indicates, alert systems send alerts and warnings if there’s a high risk of an accident.

1. Forward collision warning system (FCW): A front crash warning system uses cameras, radar, and sensors to scan the road ahead for obstacles or vehicles. If you accidentally end up being dangerously close to them, it warns you with alerts.
2. Blind-spot warning (BCW): These systems detect vehicles reaching so close to your vehicle that you can’t view them through rearview mirrors or windows. They will then give you a visual warning to stay alert and prevent a collision. 
3. Lane departure warning (LDW): This system tracks your vehicle’s movements to determine whether it is in the right lane. If you are on the verge of crossing a lane, it triggers a warning signal so you don’t end up doing so. 
4. Cross-traffic warning (CTW): This system uses radar or electronic sensors and sends visual or auditory warning alerts when it detects vehicles, cyclists, or pedestrians approaching you from the sides. This is often useful when backing into or out of a parking space or driveway.
5. Pedestrian detection system (PDS): A pedestrian detection system relies on radar, cameras, and lidar to detect pedestrians in your vehicle’s path and alert you to them. If there are emergency brakes, the system can even stop your vehicle automatically to avoid or mitigate the accident.  

2. Collision avoidance systems:

There are times when you need more than warnings and alerts, especially when response times are just a few seconds. 

Collision avoidance systems (CAS) actively intervene in such cases to prevent accidents. They provide an extra layer of security to complement CWS when they don’t suffice. 

1. Automatic emergency braking (AEB): When drivers fail to respond to alerts about potential hazards, an AEB system takes over and applies brakes automatically.
2. Adaptive cruise control (ACC): This system auto-adjusts your vehicle’s speed to help stay within the legal limit and maintain a safe distance from vehicles ahead.
3. Electronic stability control (ESC): This system helps keep a car in control in critical driving conditions. On detecting any loss of control or skidding when turning, it makes throttle and brake adjustments to bring your vehicle back on track.
4. Parking assist: This technology uses cameras to find available parking spaces, guides drivers to them, and helps move out easily and precisely.
5. Lane keep assist: This system uses gentle steering corrections to help maintain the vehicle’s position without departure from the lane. 

3. Crash detection systems

A crash detection system comes into play when it detects severe car accidents. 

Here’s what a crash detection system includes: 

• Motion sensors: Detect sudden, abrupt changes in motion or speed, often caused by crashes.
• GPS: Provides live location data for emergency services.
• Microphones: Sense sounds and haptics associated with collisions.
• Barometer: Detects changes in pressure caused by airbag deployment.

All these tools and technologies together help mitigate the impact after an accident has already occurred.

Benefits of Collision Avoidance Systems

This stat clearly shows that CAS is becoming highly popular, as it focuses on preventing accidents or mitigating their impact.

Below are a few benefits. 

1. Reduce accident rates and enhance safety

Collision avoidance systems alert drivers to potential hazards so they can act timely and judiciously to prevent crashes or collisions. 

Advanced active assistance systems take over if the manual response time is not enough. They take actions such as applying brakes or steering adjustments to ensure drivers’ safety. 

2. Minimize the severity of damage

Though the odds of crashes get significantly reduced, they are still there even with a CAS. However, you can minimize the impact of that crash if you have a well-functioning CAS. 

Let’s say you apply your car brakes after receiving a hazard alert, but still couldn’t prevent the collision. Even in that case, your vehicle’s collision speed and momentum got reduced, so there’s less damage or injury. 

3. Lower insurance premiums

Collision avoidance systems minimize the likelihood of crashes and damage. It, thus, reduces the frequency of insurance claims. 

Plus, if you have an advanced collision system in your newly purchased car, risk perception is lower. So, you can enjoy exclusive discounts on your insurance plan.

4. Long-term cost savings

Minimal accidents mean minimal damage and repair costs. You also don’t have to pay high insurance premiums, as risk perception is lower. Moreover, it also saves you from heavy penalties you may face for lane violations. Thus, you can save more money while ensuring complete fleet safety. 

Limitations of Collision Avoidance Systems (CAS)

By and large, CAS is good for a logistics business. However, there are some drawbacks that you can look at. 

1. High investments

Equipping your vehicles with CAS may be costly to begin with. If an accident occurs, you may need to recalibrate these devices, which can be complex. 

Besides, not all repair shops can handle the maintenance and recalibration of these systems.

2. Learning curve

There are no universal standards for CAS. Features may further differ from one manufacturer to another. 

So, drivers may take some time to understand how to use the functionalities, like setting cruise control or lane-centering. If they fail to set up and use CAS components properly, it may lead to unintended misuse. 

3. Overreliance

While CAS can complement human awareness, it cannot replace that. That’s what many drivers tend to forget when they get overdependent on it. 

They think CAS would send alerts, apply brakes, or adjust steering every time. The result? They may divert their focus to activities like eating or talking over the phone, which may be risky. 

4. False warnings and distractions

An experienced driver may sometimes rely more on their instincts and experience instead of crash avoidance systems. 

Chances of false alarms are also there. 

As per the Department of Transport’s Field Study of Heavy-Vehicle Crash Avoidance Systems report: 

Radar-based collision avoidance system (CAS) activations showed between 11% and 18% false activations.

For lane departure warning (LDW) alerts, the false activation rate was between 1% and 2%.

So, too many alerts, including false ones, may frustrate them eventually. They may then either turn them off or neglect even genuine warnings, which beats the very purpose of CAS. 

Emerging Collision Avoidance System Technology and Trends

The CAS market is continuously evolving, and there’s a constant influx of new trends.

Here are the ones that you can expect to be widely adopted in three to four years from now. 

1. V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) communication

V2X allows vehicles to exchange real-time information on speed, distance, and lane changes with other nearby cars. It enables drivers to respond quickly to changing traffic conditions and avoid collisions. 

The V2X deployment plan in the USA aims to have V2X infrastructure in place on 20% of the National Highway System by 2028. 

2. 4D radar

Compared to traditional radar, 4D radar technology can detect objects from long distances. It can further monitor the motion and orientation of objects and identify the drivable and non-drivable areas in dynamic traffic. It helps make autonomous navigation and driving safer and more efficient. 

3. Intelligent video dashcam

Integration of AI dash cams and telematics is also surfacing. It helps achieve a shift from reactive incident documentation to proactive coaching. These AI-powered systems log, score, and trend actions over time. It helps personalize coaching and introduce gamification for safety incentives. 

How Can Upper Route Planner Help?

While Upper is primarily a route management software, not designed specifically as a CAS, it provides several benefits through its features. 

Here’s the list. 

• Minimize risky mileage for increased driver safety: Calculate the most efficient routes with Upper Route Planner. It directly reduces the time and distance your drivers spend on the road, lowering their accident exposure. 
• Combat driver fatigue with shift-based scheduling: Schedule deliveries within defined drivers’ work hours to prevent overwork and fatigue with Upper. It keeps drivers focused and decreases the likelihood of collisions. 
• Reduce accidents with clearer turn-by-turn navigation: Let drivers navigate assigned routes from within a dedicated mobile app for them. This minimizes driver distraction and the odds of navigational errors that cause accidents. 
• Improve emergency response with real-time fleet locations: Know your fleet’s live location and progress with GPS tracking. Respond to an incident or emergency faster and more effectively to minimize the impact on your drivers and operations. 
• Assign routes safely based on vehicle capacity limits: Ensure each vehicle’s route adheres to its specific capacity for every stop and the total load. Upper Route Planner helps you do this to prevent overloads and maintain safe operations.

To see how our features work and can help ensure your fleet safety, you can sign up for a 7 days free trial or sign up for a free demo.