Guide to Automatic Emergency Braking
What is AEB? Which cars have it? And how can it put the brakes on crashes?
Automatic emergency braking (AEB) is a safety technology that can detect a potential car crash and automatically brake to avoid a collision or lessen the severity of impact. It’s a popular technology among Consumer Reports members, and it’s easy to see why: the saving of bacon.
“I try to not follow the next car closely. But [AEB] has saved my bacon on the freeway and around the town a few times,” the owner of a 2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid told CR in response to a recent car safety survey.
“Within [the] first week of ownership, [I] had an incident where the braking system brought me to a full stop prior to [a] collision. In heavy traffic, another car crossed three lanes and came to a stop in front of me,” wrote the owner of a 2019 Subaru Outback. “The system took over and brought the car to a screeching halt. Saved our bacon.”
What Makes a Good Automatic Emergency Braking System?
“The best AEB systems are the ones you never notice until you need them most,” says Kelly Funkhouser, manager for vehicle technology at CR. “They are designed to only activate at the last possible second, so it’s common to have never experienced an AEB event.” Our survey respondents tended to agree, with a majority of owners telling us they were “very satisfied” with their AEB systems.
But it’s important to remember that AEB isn’t foolproof and that today’s AEB systems can’t prevent all collisions. Even high-speed AEB systems can only slow a car down in some cases, mitigating a crash rather than preventing it. And studies show that AEB with pedestrian detection can’t always see pedestrians and cyclists at night or in turns. “It’s important to remember these systems are using cameras and sensors that can get dirty, blinded by sunlight, or obscured in the rain,” Funkhouser says. “Never rely on these systems to work perfectly, and always stay vigilant.”
Some systems have been a little overzealous in deciding when to hit the brakes. NHTSA is investigating complaints of unexpected braking in some 2017-2019 Honda vehicles. Nissan updated the software in some of its 2017-2018 Rogue SUVs to address false braking. And both Tesla and Mazda have recalled cars to fix unexpected AEB application.
FCW and AEB are available in most new cars, but the two safety features are still not yet standard equipment across the industry. CR says these systems should come with all trim levels, given their ability to save lives. Extra credit is awarded in our Overall Score for models that have systems that can operate at highway speeds and detect pedestrians as standard equipment. Drivers should be aware that AEB is a last resort, not a system that they should rely on.
Which Cars Have AEB?
Due to a voluntary commitment in which automakers agreed to equip FCW and AEB as standard equipment on nearly all new passenger vehicles by Sept. 1, 2022, nearly all new cars on sale today have AEB as standard equipment.
CR, AAA, J.D. Power, and the National Safety Council have agreed on specific standardized names for individual safety systems to reduce confusion and improve consumer understanding of what they do. Still, manufacturers often use their own names, which you might have to look out for—especially if you’re buying a used car. These are some of the names and marketing terms that automakers use or have used for AEB and packages that have AEB:
Make | AEB Name/Package |
Acura | Collision mitigation braking system, AcuraWatch |
Alfa Romeo | Forward collision warning plus |
Audi | Pre Sense Front |
Audi | Pre Sense City |
BMW | Frontal collision warning with city collision mitigation |
BMW | Collision warning with city braking function |
Buick | Front pedestrian detection |
Buick | Front automatic braking, forward automatic braking |
Buick | Low-speed forward automatic braking |
Cadillac | Low-speed forward automatic emergency braking |
Cadillac | Enhanced forward automatic emergency braking |
Cadillac | Front pedestrian braking |
Chevrolet | Automatic emergency braking |
Chevrolet | Front automatic braking |
Chevrolet | Low-speed forward automatic braking |
Chevrolet | Front pedestrian braking |
Chrysler | Full-speed forward collision warning with active braking |
Chrysler | Full-speed forward collision warning plus |
Fiat | Full-speed forward collision warning with active braking |
Ford | Pre-collision assist with automatic emergency braking (AEB), Ford Co-Pilot360 |
Genesis | Forward collision avoidance assist with pedestrian detection |
GMC | Low-speed forward automatic braking |
GMC | Front pedestrian braking |
GMC | Forward automatic braking |
Honda | Collision mitigation braking system, Honda Sensing |
Hyundai | Forward collision avoidance assist |
Hyundai | Forward collision avoidance assist w/pedestrian detection |
Infiniti | Forward emergency braking |
Infiniti | Intelligent brake assist |
Infiniti | Forward emergency braking with pedestrian detection |
Jeep | Full-speed forward collision warning with active braking |
Kia | Autonomous emergency braking |
Lexus | Pre-collision system, Lexus Safety System |
Lexus | Pre-collision system with pedestrian detection/Lexus Safety System+2.0 |
Lexus | Pre-collision system with advanced driver attention monitor/Lexus Safety System+2.0 |
Lincoln | Pre-collision assist with automatic emergency braking (AEB), Lincoln Co-Pilot360 |
Mazda | Smart city brake support, smart brake support |
Mercedes-Benz | Collision prevention assist plus |
Mercedes-Benz | Active braking assist |
Mini | Frontal collision warning with city collision mitigation |
Mitsubishi | Forward collision mitigation system |
Nissan | Automatic emergency braking w/pedestrian detection |
Nissan | Automatic emergency braking |
Porsche | Adaptive cruise control + PAS Porsche Active Safe |
Porsche | Warn and Brake Assist |
Subaru | Pre-collision braking—EyeSight |
Toyota | Pre-collision system with pedestrian detection/TSS-P |
Volkswagen | Front assist |
Volkswagen | Front assist with pedestrian monitoring |
Volvo | City Safety |