Pedestrian Protection

Cars from Audi also meet all the requirements in the event of an accident involving a pedestrian. In the A8, for example, a foam component between the front bumper and its cross-member lessens the impact on the knees.

If a passer-by’s head should hit the engine hood, the sheet metal can deform over a wide range. The gap between it and the hard components in the engine compartment is sufficiently large. For the future, Audi is developing an assistance system that will warn the driver of an impending collision involving a pedestrian and automatically brake the car in an extreme emergency.

A low-speed crash such as a parking lot accident does not have significant financial consequences. At both the front and rear of the A8, aluminum crash boxes are bolted on in front of the longitudinal members. These are relatively easy to replace. The sensors remain undamaged in the event of a low-speed parking crash because they are cleverly integrated into the deformable covering of the bumpers.

Status: 2011