The safetst car on UK's roads..... that will be an Infiniti Q50

According to the latest tests carried out by Thatcham, the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre, the Infiniti Q50 has proved itself to have one of the most advanced standard fit collision avoidance systems that the Centre has ever tested. Together with its recently announced five star Euro NCAP rating the Infiniti Q50 is easily one of the safest cars on the road.

Thatcham’s Chief Executive Peter Shaw explains: “The majority of accidents on our roads are caused by driver distraction often at junctions. Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) systems can warn the driver of the potential danger ahead and then automatically slow the vehicle down or even bring it to a complete halt if necessary. Here at Thatcham we assess these systems in the Insurance Group Rating “City” test on behalf of UK insurers to evaluate their performance in the most common type of crash: the front-to-rear shunt”.

“In the test we drive the car under robot control at speeds of up to 50km/h towards a unique soft target representing another vehicle, and we measure how well the car performs at avoiding a crash or reducing the impact speed. The Q50 not only avoided the crash at the maximum 50km/h test speed, the Infiniti engineers were confident that it could also do the same at 60km/h, and so it proved. This is a remarkable achievement and as such the Q50 is one of the best performers we’ve seen to date.”

Fintan Knight, Vice President for Infiniti Europe, Middle East and Africa added: “Today’s drivers need all the help they can get to stay relaxed, comfortable and safe behind the wheel which is why the Q50 is available with many innovative new safety systems.”

By using a highly specified radar system along with several cameras located around the vehicle to constantly monitor the vehicles surrounding area, many systems are able to combine together and reduce the risk of an accident ever taking place. Forward Emergency Braking is only one of many other features included in the optional Safety Pack -

• Reversing (Back-up Collision Intervention). Detects moving vehicles and objects behind the car when reverse gear is selected, warning the driver with visual and audible alerts. If necessary the system can autonomously engage the brakes to avoid a collision.
• Drifting out of lane (Lane Departure Warning and Lane Departure Prevention). Industry-first system senses unintended lane drift and assists the driver in guiding the vehicle back to the centre of its lane.
• Moving into the path of another vehicle (Blind Spot Intervention and Blind Spot Warning). World-first technology aids the driver in avoiding vehicles concealed in the blind-spot area during lane-change manoeuvres.
• Motorway hold-ups (Predictive Forward Collision Warning). Another world-first for Infiniti, PFCW warns the driver of hazards which lie beyond the driver’s field of view – seeing past not just the car in front but two cars ahead.
• Low-speed manoeuvring in busy areas (Around View Monitor with Moving Object Detection). Infiniti’s world-first real-time camera system provides a virtual 360 degree view of the environment around the car, with visual and audible warnings of hazards.

As well as the availability of the most advanced safety systems, every Infiniti Q50 includes safety-oriented features such as:

• Seat belt reminder system for all seats
• Speed limiter
• Active pop-up bonnet for pedestrian safety
• Electronic Stability Control with Active Trace Control
• LED fog lights front and rear
• Tyre Pressure Monitoring System
• Hill start assist
• Six airbags
• Rear view camera and front and rear parking sensors

Fintan Knight added: “Infiniti leads the way in introducing new safety technologies and the Q50 is available with more of them than ever before. As our new-generation standard bearer the Q50 shows just how committed we are to road safety and to keeping the brand in the forefront of safety in the future.”