It might sound outrageous but Malaysia currently records the third highest fatality rate from road accidents in Asean, with 6,167 fatal road accidents recorded in 2019 alone.

Clearly, something needs to be done in order to improve road safety in the country and this will require continuous efforts from all parties i.e. the government, industry players and the public.

Bosch, as a purveyor of vehicle systems, has teamed up with the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) to highlight its innovative technologies in conjunction with the Asean Road Safety Week.

The first feature to be brought to attention was autonomous emergency braking (AEB), which works hand in hand with electronic stability program (ESP) to mitigate the risk of rear-end collisions.

Accident research by Bosch conducted in Germany reveals that if all vehicles were equipped with AEB, up to 70 percent of all relevant rear-end collisions with personal injuries could be avoided.

ESP, which has been made mandatory in Malaysia since 2018, has the ability to keep a vehicle safely on course by predicting the movement of the vehicle via steering input and if needed, applying brakes on individual. Hence, Bosch claims if all vehicles were equipped with ESP, up to 80 per cent of all skidding accidents could be prevented.

Lastly, Bosch's iBooster technology helps build up the required braking pressure three times faster than ESP, resulting in shorter stopping distances in emergency braking situations. This feature is compatible with all drivetrain configurations and is particularly suited for hybrid and electric vehicles.