Chevrolet is adding new safety features and options to the 2018 Tahoe Police Pursuit Vehicle (PPV), including technologies designed to help reduce potential crash speeds or help avoid a crash, GM Fleet announced.
“We want to protect our protectors and help them get home safely at the end of every shift,” said Ed Peper, U.S. vice president, GM Fleet. “The safety technologies we are introducing on the Tahoe PPV may serve as a second set of eyes.”
The centerpiece is a new Enhanced Driver Assist Package that’s the first of its kind for a pursuit-rated vehicle. The option package is built around five distinct technologies and features:
Low Speed Forward Automatic Braking: This feature, the first ever on a pursuit-rated vehicle, automatically applies the brakes to help reduce a collision's severity if the vehicle is traveling at a low speed and the system detects that a front-end collision is imminent and the driver has not already applied the brakes.
Forward Collision Alert: This system uses radar and a forward-looking camera to measure the closing speeds between a vehicle and objects in its path. If a driver-adjustable threshold is passed, the system triggers a visual alert and audible beeps or seat pulses, if equipped.
Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning: This feature provides gentle steering wheel turns to help drivers avoid crashes due to unintentionally drifting out of their lanes when they are not actively steering and the turn signals are not activated.
Safety Alert Driver Seat: The GM-patented Safety Alert Seat gives drivers the option of getting haptic seat-bottom vibration pulses instead of audible crash avoidance alerts.
Power Adjustable Pedals: Combined with the Tahoe PPV’s standard 10-way power driver seat and tilt wheel, power adjustable pedals help drivers of all sizes find their optimal driving position for comfort and control.
“When they’re on road patrol, police officers are constantly multitasking,” said Theodore Quisenberry, 43-year law enforcement veteran and the retired chief of the Royal Oak (Michigan) Police Department and the Oakland County Homeland Security Division. “Now when officers are scanning their surroundings, so is their vehicle. That will help them stay safe.”
According to a 2017 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) report on front crash prevention, vehicles with forward collision warning reduced the rate of rear-end crashes reported to police by 27% and when combined with automatic braking cut the rate by 50%.
The Tahoe PPV also includes a number of standard safety and driver assist features including StabiliTrak Electronic Stability Control System, Bluetooth hands-free connectivity, Rear Vision Camera with Rear Park Assist, and steering wheel controls.
