Autonomous braking cuts collisions in real world by 40 per cent
New study says suggests emergency auto brake systems should be mandatoryA new study carried out in the US by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has found that vehicles fitted with autonomous braking systems had a 39 per cent lower incidence of a rear-end crash.
Forward collision warning systems alone, meanwhile, also reduced the risk of a rear impact collision by 23 per cent, the study found.
Combined, says IIHS, both technologies working together cut the rear-end collisions involving an injury by 42 per cent.
The research gathered by IIHS involved analysing real-world rear-end crashes in 22 US states from 2010 to 2014 and then comparing the crash rates of Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru and Volvo vehicles equipped with the technology.
If all vehicles were fitted with autonomous braking, IIHS estimated that in 2013 some 700,000 crashes in the US could have been avoided.
The IIHS research, funded by the American insurance industry, is likely to lead to calls for the introduction of autonomous emergency braking on all cars sold in the US, which could have global consequences for the cars we buy as the huge economies of scale will lower the cost, potentially making the technology standard equipment in all markets.
In the future the IIHS said it expected to see noticeably fewer rear-end crashes and a reduction in the number of whiplash injuries as a result.
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