Automatic braking is a technology that helps prevent motor vehicle accidents by applying the brakes to slow down a vehicle when the driver fails to do so in the event of an imminent collision with another vehicle, a pedestrian, or an obstacle of some sort. Even though this technology has a great potential for improving road traffic safety, it has only been available as an expensive option that many car owners cannot afford, or as a standard feature on luxury cars, so a limited number of people have been able to feel the benefits it provides.
That is about to change soon, with ten major car makers committing to make automatic braking systems a standard feature in all new vehicles they build from now on, which means this advanced safety technology will soon be at the disposal of many more car owners and will presumably save many more lives.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), and the ten automakers announced the news in a joint press release, in a move that promises to drastically reduce the number of traffic fatalities and injuries. The ten automakers include German luxury-car manufacturers BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Mazda, Volvo, one of the leaders in vehicle safety technologies, Volkswagen, and all-electric car maker Tesla Motors.
“We are entering a new era of vehicle safety, focused on preventing crashes from ever occurring, rather than just protecting occupants when crashes happen,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “But if technologies such as automatic emergency braking are only available as options or on the most expensive models, too few Americans will see the benefits of this new era. These 10 companies are committing to making AEB available to all new-car buyers.”
Automatic braking technology refers to various systems that rely on radars, sensors or cameras to detect an imminent collision and warn the driver, and if the driver fails to take appropriate action to avoid a crash, the brakes are automatically applied in order to slow down the vehicle or bring it to a complete stop. These systems are especially effective in preventing rear-end collisions, which account for over 30 percent of all motor vehicle accidents, according to the NHTSA, and in most cases are caused by driver distraction, tailgating, or speeding.
Considering that the ten automakers that pledged to implement automatic braking technology in all their vehicles account for more than 50 percent of all new car sales in the United States, this move is bound to have an immensely positive impact on road safety. The IIHS claims that automatic braking systems can reduce insurance injury claims by 35%.