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Autonomous braking really does cut car crashes

May 25, 2015

The majority of collisions happen at lower speeds, where autonomous emergency braking (AEB) technology is most effective. – AFP/Relaxnews pic, May 25, 2015.If you're in the market for a new car, new research highlights why you should pick one that comes with autonomous emergency braking (AEB).

Thatcham, the UK-based automotive technology and research body has been studying insurance claims to discern if the technology is already making a tangible difference to road safety. It found that third-party injury claims are 45% lower on drivers of the latest-generation VW Golf – which comes with AEB as standard – than on an equivalent vehicles, such as a Ford Fiesta or Audi A3.

"When we saw figures based on an initial small sample, we were surprised, as they exceeded our own performance testing. However the figures held up, even after almost doubling the sample group," said Matthew Avery, director of safety at Thatcham Research.

AEB systems are designed to scan the road ahead for signs of a potential collision, and perform an emergency stop if the car is traveling at lower speeds, typically below 50kph or 30kph, depending on the system in question.

"Low-speed bumps and shunts account for three-quarters of all collisions, typically at speeds of under 32kph in city driving scenarios. This is where AEB systems perform best, avoiding crashes of up to 25kph and reducing the severity of those up to 40kph. This includes collisions at junctions, roundabouts and in stop-start traffic where one car runs into the back of another," said Avery.

Thatcham's UK-only findings come at the same time that Euro NCAP, the European organisation tasked with crash-testing new cars, published the results of its first research into autonomous vehicle safety systems. Working in partnership with its Australian counterpart, the Ancap, the organisations pooled their “real-world” data and discovered that there is a 38% overall reduction in rear-end crashes for vehicles fitted with an autonomous emergency braking system.

Dr Michiel van Ratingen, secretary-general of Euro NCAP, said: "These findings strongly support our decision to make AEB technology a key discriminator in the safety rating of new vehicles."

In January, EuroNCAP started incorporating autonomous safety technologies into its crash-testing criteria and a new car is now only capable of achieving a full five-star safety rating if it comes with AEB as standard.

However, according to Thatcham's data, only 10% of new cars on sale come with the technology as standard, while approximately 25% of new cars come with the technology as a cost option. – AFP/Relaxnews, May 25, 2015.