Crash Avoidance Technology: Consumers and Auto-Makers Want In

Crash avoidance technology has become one of the most prevalent and sought after features in today’s new model vehicles. What once were only additives to luxury vehicles are now becoming more  mainstream amongst the fleet. The most common crash prevention technologies include front crash prevention, blind spot detection, lane departure warning, adaptive headlights, park assist and backover prevention.  In 2012, an Accenture  study reinforced the fact that consumers are more focused on safety-driven technologies than ever. And thankfully, most of these technologies  seem to be working.

According to a study by IIHS (Insurance Institute of Highway Safety,) vehicles with the front crash prevention feature are less-likely to rear-end other vehicles. Systems with automatic braking reduce rear-end crashes by about 40 percent on average, while forward collision warning alone cuts them by 23 percent, the study found. The autobrake systems also greatly reduce injury crashes. These attractive findings have led a multitude of automakers to commit to a 2022 deadline that makes automatic emergency braking (AEB) standard on nearly all new passenger vehicles. Through 2050, the Institute estimates standard autobrake will prevent 230,000 crashes and 102,000 injuries.

Here you can find a list of the automakers who are making the commitment: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/51/4/2. They represent 99 percent of the U.S. Automobile market.

Adaptive headlights have also been an attractive safety system for vehicles. This feature causes the headlight to swivel as you turn your steering wheel, which helps illuminate the road when going around curves.  A 2014 IIHS study found that adaptive headlights improved drivers’ reaction times by about a third of a second. That could be just enough to avoid, say, hitting a deer on a dark road.

Once of the most popular safety features today, soon to be mandatory in the 2018 model year, is the rear-camera and parking assist feature. They help you see as you back –up out of or into spaces, preventing a back-over accident, such as hitting a small animal. The parking assist sensor system notifies you with progressively louder and quicker beeps as you close in on an obstacle; perfect for backing into tight spaces.

Earlier research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimated that if every vehicle on the road were equipped with four types of crash avoidance features — forward collision warning, lane departure warning, blind spot detection and adaptive headlights — nearly a third of all crashes could potentially be prevented or mitigated (see “New estimates of benefits of crash avoidance features on passenger vehicles,” May 20, 2010). Who wouldn’t want to hop on this bandwagon?!

If you or someone you know has been injured in a car accident, contact our law firm  Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., Accident & Injury Lawyers  to be your Houston car accident lawyer.