Crash Avoidance Technology is Saving Lives

Survey Finds Crash Avoidance Technology Lead to Less Crashes

A survey released recently by Consumer Reports found 57 percent of drivers say crash avoidance safety systems have helped them avoid a crash.

The survey, which tracked data on about 72,000 vehicles covering 2015-19 models, asked drivers about Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), blind spot warning and other active safety and driver systems.

How Crash Avoidance Technology Protects Drivers

A lot of people are very unaware of these systems or what they do. With as distracted as people have become these days in their driving, these systems have become important.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has reported that automatic emergency braking systems with Forward Collision Warning and crash imminent braking reduce rear-end crashes by half, and still by more than a quarter with Forward Collision Warning alone. The IIHS reported Vehicles that have FCW and AEB to have 50 percent fewer front-to-rear crashes compared with cars without the systems.

Safety Shouldn’t Be Optional

Even in the 2019 model year, many vehicles are still not equipped with automatic emergency braking. In fact, no GM or FCA vehicle in 2019 comes equipped with automatic emergency braking as a standard safety feature. Toyota, on the other hand, leads the way with automatic emergency braking being standard on 90% of Toyota’s vehicle fleet.

Safety shouldn’t be optional. These systems should be standard on every new car, not just on luxury vehicles or more expensive trims because even drivers and passengers who don’t know about these systems would benefit from having them.