August 7, 2008 Nissan has unveiled an "All-Around Collision Free" system that rolls two new safety technologies in with those already developed under its Safety Shield program. The new additions are a Side Collision Prevention (SCP), which assists the driver when changing lanes, and Back-up Collision Prevention (BCP), which automatically sounds a warning and applies the brakes if a collision is imminent during a reversing maneuver.
The prototype combines SCP and BCP with the previously announced Distance Control Assist (DCA), which aims to maintain a safe following distance, and Lane Departure Prevention (LDP), which assist a driver to stay in the correct lane.
According to Nissan, all systems are designed to provide intuitive assistance with minimal intervention. For example the Side Collision Prevention system activates a warning if the side-mounted sensors detect an approaching vehicle in the lane a driver is changing into. If this fails then a yaw mechanism kicks-in via brake control of individual wheels to help prevent a potential collision. Similarly the Back-up Collision Prevention system, which uses both rear and side-mounted sensors to detect objects when reversing, sounds an alarm prior to activating the brakes.
Further reading: Nissan boosts pedestrian protection.
