Manufacturers have started offering a lot of safety features as standard nowadays, however, until the time Indian crash norms are put in place, it's hard to say definitively if the cars are indeed safer than they used to be since a lot of factors collectively contribute to making a car safe. Emergency Brake Assist is one such feature that makes the car safe. Let's see what it is.

What does the acronym EBA or BA stand for?

EBA means Emergency Brake Assist, while BA simply means Brake Assist. Both terms are used interchangeably.

Brake distance vs BA / Without BA
While both are essentially the same, some manufacturers prefer one over the other. It’s an active vehicle safety feature, a technology that helps the driver in reducing the overall stopping distance.

Brake force application in emergency situations 

How does EBA work?

As the name suggests, EBA is a mechanism that assists braking during the emergency. However, it does not assist braking at all times and it comes into action only under emergency braking situations.

What constitutes an emergency condition is something that’s pre-programmed by the manufacturer and is generally a function of braking pressure applied by the driver, speed with which brake is applied and the speed of the car. The EBA comes into action within milliseconds and applies maximum braking pressure if it detects an emergency.

Braking force generated is proportional and is a function of the braking pressure applied by the driver at the pedal. EBA ensures that under emergency conditions full braking force is generated regardless of the pressure that has been applied by the driver.

EBA is there to ensure that full braking force is applied under conditions when a driver is not able to do so and provide assistance to bring the vehicle to the stop within a minimum distance.

How many types of Brake Assist systems are there?

Generally, they are classified into two – Mechanical and Electronic. The difference between the two lies in the underlying technology they use for operation. An electronic brake assist uses an ECU and predicts an emergency situation based on preset threshold based on the speed with which pedal is depressed, brake pressure etc. the computation is done electronically.

While mechanical brake assist also uses a pre-set threshold to detect emergency situations, the full braking pressure is applied and detected mechanically based on travel of the pedal and force applied etc.

Is EBA present in all cars?

While it should be, most manufacturers don't mention it in the brochures these days. Since it's effective in reducing the braking distances, it's considered a safety feature at par with other basic ones like seatbelts, airbags etc.

Brake force vs Pedal pressure

Will a car with EBA always have ABS?

It’s not clear and we can see that nowadays manufacturers choose not to say if cars have Brake Assist or not. However, in a car that does not have ABS, EBA would lock up the wheels and you are most likely to lose the steering capability of the car during that brief duration when you press the pedal aggressively.

However, a car with ABS would ensure that wheels don’t lock and you retain steerability. While EBA applies the full braking force, the ABS ensures that braking force is applied in pulsations and wheels don’t lock up and let you steer the car. So, in case of the car that uses ABS, EBA can perform to its full potential.