Advanced driver assist systems are becoming more and more commonplace, and the basic ones – such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – are now even becoming standard equipment on even entry-level vehicles. That’s good news, because according to a recent study conducted by Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety (PARTS), an entity consisting of the United States Department of Transport and a wide range of carmakers, the safety system can actually help reduce rear-end accidents by nearly 50%.
Compared to cars without these systems, forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking together can also help reduce front-to-rear crash injuries by 53%, according to data provided by the participating carmakers for 93 separate vehicle models from 2015-2020 model years, cross-referencing the US’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) data for car crashes in 13 states from January 2016 through August 2021.
The study also shows that vehicles equipped with active lane intervention technologies, such as lane-keep assist and lane-centring assist, can also help reduce single-vehicle crashes that lead to serious injuries by up to 9%.
Commenting on the study, PARTS Governance Board industry co-chair, and senior manager at Stellantis, Tim Czapp said, “These emerging technologies can substantially reduce the number of crashes and improve safety outcomes”, adding that “AEB is approaching standard deployment and with real-world effectiveness, is helping mitigate injuries and lives lost.”
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One of the main reason that systems such as AEB can provide “substantial safety benefits” was due to their ability to operate in almost all situations, even when the roads, weather, and lighting conditions are not ideal, the study added.
Further studies will need to be conducted in order to ascertain the effectiveness of other systems, including pedestrian detection in AEB. To that end, PARTS announced that Ford have now joined the coalition, and will also be participating in future iterations of ADAS studies.
The full study is available to the public via MITRE’s website, linked here.
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