Reversing assist

With reversing assist systems, a fundamental distinction is made between those that inform the driver about pedestrians or objects and those that also have an emergency braking function.

Reversing assist systems are particularly effective for (heavy) commercial vehicles or vehicles with poor all-round visibility, as they provide the driver with meaningful support in dangerous situations.

With Regulation (EU) 2019/2144 (General Safety Regulation), the European Parliament and Council has mandated, from the legislative side, the presence of a system that informs the driver about pedestrians or objects behind the vehicle while reversing. In this way, many accidents are to be avoided in the future.

The conditions for this were drawn up in UN Regulation No. 158. In addition to rear-view mirrors, among other things also specified for passenger cars and commercial vehicles are camera monitors and detection systems. Combinations of different systems (including mirrors) for monitoring a defined area are also permitted.

While camera monitor systems provide the driver with an image, in a detection system the presence of detected objects is provided by a combination of acoustic, optical, and/or haptic signals.

Some systems also offer an emergency braking function. If the driver does not react to a detected obstacle, the vehicle can prevent a collision on its own. These systems have not yet been made mandatory by law, but they are assessed by the European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) and are thus included in the star rating of vehicles.

Euro NCAP – Emergency braking system for pedestrians