Studies Find Automatic Braking Can Cut Crashes Over 40%

According to two recent U.S. studies, automatic emergency braking can reduce pickup truck crashes by more than 40% and rear-end car crashes by more than half.

Both of the studies published on Tuesday—one by government-auto cooperation and the other by the insurance sector—used crash data to arrive at their conclusions.

If a collision is about to happen, automatic emergency braking can stop the cars or slow them down to lessen the impact.

A voluntary agreement between 20 businesses to include the brake system as standard equipment on 95% of their light-duty models during the current model year, which ends in August, is being considered by several automakers.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 12 million police-reported collisions from 13 states were compared in a study by The Alliance for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety, the partnership stated in a statement Tuesday.

The team researched emergency braking and forward collision warnings.

When the striking vehicle had automatic braking and forward collision alert, compared to cars without either technology, the study discovered that front-to-rear collisions were reduced by 49%. According to the study, injuries from rear collisions decreased by 53%.

Only 16% of rear-end collisions and 19% of rear crashes with injuries were reduced in vehicles equipped with forward collision warning systems.

The study found that automatic emergency braking performs well under all circumstances, regardless of how bad the road, weather, or lighting.

The crew also studied lane-keeping systems and lane departure warning systems, which help keep cars in their lanes.

They decreased injury-causing road departure crashes by 7% and crashes caused by vehicles leaving the road by 8%.

Tim Czapp, senior manager for safety at European manufacturer Stellantis and the industry’s co-chair of the partnership’s board, stated that these cutting-edge technology “can significantly reduce the frequency of crashes and enhance safety outcomes.”