Brake Assist (BA), sometimes known as Electronic Brake Assist (EBA) is a safety function which ensures the brakes are applied fully in an emergency stop.
Safety researchers established that one cause of accidents was that drivers often failed to apply the brakes hard enough in emergency situations. Brake Assist systems react to fast, moderately heavy application of the brakes and interpret this as the beginning of an emergency stop. The system then applies the brakes fully until the driver removes pressure from the brake pedal.
Brake Assist systems can be very effective, though they can also apply the brakes more heavily than the driver intended in situations where the driver intends to apply rapid but non-emergency braking.
