Mixed results on crash avoidance technologies…
A new study out of the US has found some crash avoidance technologies are proving more helpful than others.
Ford’s Active City Stop crash avoidance technology
Researchers from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) studied crash avoidance systems including – forward collision avoidance, lane departure warnings, adaptive headlights and park assist and found only forward crash avoidance was making a significant impact on crash rates based on insurance data.
Forward Collision Avoidance warns the driver when traffic stops unexpectedly and will automatically apply the brakes if the driver doesn’t respond in time.
It was found owners of cars with this system filed 14% fewer insurance claims.
Adaptive headlights, which shift direction to wherever the driver points the front wheels, also appears to be providing a positive result according to the data with claims down 10% on cars fitted with the system.
But it was not all positive news with the data revealing vehicles fitted with lane departure warnings were actually over represented in insurance claims.
Matt Moore, vice president of HLDI, an affiliate of the IIHS says this could be because the system is giving drivers too many false alarms.
“These false alarms could make drivers tune out the warnings or turn them off completely. Of course, that doesn’t explain why the systems seem to increase claim rates, but we need to gather more data to see if that’s truly happening.”
And technology which helps drivers with blind spots and parking assistance were found to not have any impact on reducing crashes.
You can read the full report here.
Joel Helmes
Behind the Wheel supports and encourages road safety. We provide road safety news from Australia and the world, keeping you up to date on new technologies and other road safety issues. Our road safety expert Russell White also contributes safe driving tips and information as part of our effort to cut road fatalities and end the trauma.
