Electric brake controllers are an essential item for anyone to tow their trailer in safety and help you satisfy laws relating to braking systems on your van, but in simple terms, these items are worth their weight in gold.
I say that because once while towing, the van decided to try and overtake the vehicle I was towing it with. In this situation, you shouldn’t apply the tow vehicle’s brakes. The controller should be used to slow the van down and bring it back into line. If I hadn’t had a brake controller, I would have had a very serious accident.
The brake controller packs some smarts into neat and compact dimensions. We take a look at how you can spend the bucks to avoid the bang
WORDS ANTHONY KILNER IMAGES RV DAILY
ELECTRIC BRAKE CONTROLLERS
GUIDE Electric brake controllers: Part 1
TECHNOLOGY
Brake controllers now feature exciting technology behind them, with Bluetooth and Wireless options becoming more secure and intelligent. A few years ago, a wireless system might have been thought a step too far, but there are at least a couple of options for a what’s becoming known as a wireless trailer interface.
According to Tony at WiTi, there is a real global push towards ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems), which is all about wireless connectivity in vehicles and includes vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure options. Safety is the main driving force behind ITS.
Testing is underway. In the case of vehicle to infrastructure communication, your car will be able to ‘talk’ to things such as traffic lights, in real-time. If the traffic light is red, the vehicle will register this and not allow itself to be driven through the red signal. It also means that if the speed limit is 40km/h, then regardless of how hard the driver accelerates, the vehicle will be limited to 40km/h. This connectivity will boost technology already available such as adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking, and the communication will eventually apply to trailers.
ABOVE ElecBrakes system remote control. Just one of the wireless set-ups available at the moment, but there will be more
GUIDE Electric brake controllers: Part 1
ELECTRIC BRAKE CONTROLLERS
The brake controller packs some smarts into neat and compact dimensions. We take a look at how you can spend the bucks to avoid the bang
Electric brake controllers are an essential item for anyone to tow their trailer in safety and help you satisfy laws relating to braking systems on your van, but in simple terms, these items are worth their weight in gold.
I say that because once while towing, the van decided to try and overtake the vehicle I was towing it with. In this situation, you shouldn’t apply the tow vehicle’s brakes. The controller should be used to slow the van down and bring it back into line. If I hadn’t had a brake controller, I would have had a very serious accident.
WORDS ANTHONY KILNER IMAGES RV DAILY
TECHNOLOGY
Brake controllers now feature exciting technology behind them, with Bluetooth and Wireless options becoming more secure and intelligent. A few years ago, a wireless system might have been thought a step too far, but there are at least a couple of options for a what’s becoming known as a wireless trailer interface.
According to Tony at WiTi, there is a real global push towards ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems), which is all about wireless connectivity in vehicles and includes vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to infrastructure options. Safety is the main driving force behind ITS.
Testing is underway. In the case of vehicle to infrastructure communication, your car will be able to ‘talk’ to things such as traffic lights, in real-time. If the traffic light is red, the vehicle will register this and not allow itself to be driven through the red signal. It also means that if the speed limit is 40km/h, then regardless of how hard the driver accelerates, the vehicle will be limited to 40km/h. This connectivity will boost technology already available such as adaptive cruise control and autonomous emergency braking, and the communication will eventually apply to trailers.
ABOVE ElecBrakes system remote control. Just one of the wireless set-ups available at the moment, but there will be more