Automatic Emergency Braking Reduces Rear-end Crashes by 46%
Automatic emergency braking with a forward collision alert reduced rear-end striking crashes by 46% while lane change alert with a side blind zone alert reduced lane change crashes by 26%, according to a new study from GM and the University of Michigan.
Automatic braking has a far higher likelihood of preventing a crash than a lane departure alert, according to new research.
Graphic courtesy of GM.
Automatic emergency braking with a forward collision alert reduced rear-end striking crashes by 46% while lane change alert with a side blind zone alert reduced lane change crashes by 26%, according to a new study from General Motors and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute.
The automaker partnered with the research institute to explore the real-world effectiveness of some of its automated safety systems when it comes to preventing roadway collisions.
Other noteworthy findings showed that Rear Vision Camera and Rear Park Assist functionality produced, respectively, an estimated 21% and 38% reduction in backing crashes.
Rear Cross Traffic Alert, which nearly always includes the two above-mentioned backing features, delivered a 52% decrease in backing crashes. Reverse Automatic Braking, which includes all the previous backing features described, produced the greatest benefit, an 81% reduction in backing collisions.
The study also explored the value of Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning — showing this feature reduced lane departure-related crashes by 20%.
GM’s and UMTRI's study also focused on one of the most basic of safety features — headlights. The findings showed that IntelliBeam and High-Intensity Discharge headlight features provided 35% and 21% reductions, respectively, in nighttime pedestrian/bicyclist/animal crashes, with a 49% reduction when offered together.
Overall, the data indicates that several of GM’s automated safety features are making a statistically significant impact in helping to reduce crashes.
The study leveraged 3.7 million GM vehicles across 20 different models from 2013-2017. Fifteen different systems were evaluated using police report crash databases available to UMTRI from 10 states.
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