Safety: New safety and assistance systems for even more effective protection

› New Attention and Drowsiness Assist monitors driver behaviour more reliably
› Intelligent Park Assist and Remote Park Assist for added convenience
› Up to ten airbags for increased passenger safety

Mladá Boleslav, 14 February 2024 – Škoda Auto has further refined the Octavia’s high level of active and passive safety in the updated version. The new Attention and Drowsiness Assist uses an innovative algorithm to assess driver behaviour more precisely. The updated Octavia comes with up to ten airbags while further assistance systems take driver convenience to a new level.

In the updated Octavia, Škoda has replaced Driver Alert with the Attention and Drowsiness Assist, as seen in the all‑new Superb and all‑new Kodiaq. The system monitors the driver’s behaviour and assesses their level of drowsiness. While Driver Alert mainly analysed data from the electromechanical power steering, the Attention and Drowsiness Assist accesses information from various vehicle control units, such as the Lane Assist. It uses an innovative algorithm to recognise short-term inattention (distraction) and long-term inattention (fatigue). It detects deviations from normal steering behaviour at speeds above 65 km/h and continuously evaluates the driver’s behaviour in order to draw conclusions about their fitness to drive. If the system concludes that the driver is fatigued, it triggers visual and audible warnings in the Virtual Cockpit at three levels: recommendation, warning and escalation. More advanced traffic sign recognition also provides enhanced driver support.

The new Intelligent Park Assist (available only with automatic transmission) enables the Octavia to enter and exit parallel and perpendicular parking spaces automatically. In addition to controlling the steering, like the Park Assist in other Škoda models, it now also takes charge of the brakes, speed and direction of travel (forward and reverse). The car will also stop automatically if the system detects an obstacle. The upcoming Remote Park Assist (available only with automatic transmission) will go even further. It will allow the driver to control Intelligent Park Assist manoeuvres remotely from outside the vehicle via the MyŠkoda app. The vehicle and smartphone communicate via Bluetooth when the user is within four metres of the Octavia. All they have to do is select the type of manoeuvre in the app and the direction in which they want to exit the parking space. The maximum speed during the manoeuvre is 9.5 km/h.

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The Škoda Octavia is one of the safest vehicles in its class. In 2022, it successfully repeated its 5-star rating in the Euro NCAP reference test for crash safety, even under the now more stringent test conditions. Since summer 2022, up to ten airbags have protected the vehicle’s occupants in the event of an accident: the central airbag between the driver and front passenger and the knee airbag for the driver, along with the driver and front passenger airbags as well as front side airbags and head airbags, come as standard. Rear side airbags are available as an option.