Automatic Braking Systems Cut Rear-End Collisions Drastically

Sat, 2/10/2018 - 2:26 pm by Kirsten Rincon

rear-end collisionRear-end crashes are the most common type of motor vehicle crash, with the leading factor being driver inattention. In recent years, several automakers have implemented a new technology that has proven to be very helpful in preventing these types of accidents, but it’s still not widely available and is only a standard feature in high-end vehicles.

It’s a crash avoidance technology, most commonly known by the name “forward-collision warning” (FCW), and according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), when coupled with automatic braking, it is very effective in reducing rear-end crashes.

A 40-percent Reduction

The IIHS has conducted a study to examine the effectiveness of these systems. The Institute analyzed police-reported rear-end collisions in 22 states in the period between 2010 and 2014, involving various models from the following brands: Acura, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, and Volvo.

According to the study, rear-end accidents rates for vehicles with forward-collision warning and automatic braking systems were 40-percent lower than for vehicles without these systems. Researchers found that forward-collision warning alone helps reduce this type of accidents, but it’s not as effective as when it is combined with automatic braking. Vehicles that were only equipped with pre-collision warning had 23-percent lower incidence of rear-end collisions.

What’s more, researchers say that pre-collision and automatic braking help reduce injuries, as well. They found that these features helped reduce rear-end crashes resulting in injury by 42 percent, but they also noted that pre-collision alone did not have a significant effect in this regard.

Could Cut Accidents Drastically

The study states that if all vehicles had the above-mentioned systems, the number of rear-end crashes in 2013 would have been reduced by 700,000, or 13 percent of all police-reported crashes.

“The success of front crash prevention represents a big step toward safer roads,” says David Zuby, IIHS chief research officer. “As this technology becomes more widespread, we can expect to see noticeably fewer rear-end crashes. The same goes for the whiplash injuries that often result from these crashes and can cause a lot of pain and lost productivity.”

Number of Models Offering it Still Very Low

According to the IIHS, automatic braking came as a standard safety feature in only 1 percent of all 2015 model year vehicles, and it was offered as an option in 26 percent of vehicles.

However, the technology will become more widely available soon, with 10 car makers recently pledging to make automatic braking systems standard across their lineups. The group of companies that made this commitment includes: Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.

Additionally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), has launched an initiative in collaboration with the IIHS to urge all automakers to commit to making automatic braking available in all models.