Rear-end crashes are among the most common causes of San Diego car accidents. In fact, one-third of all police-reported crashes in 2013 involved a rear-end collision with another vehicle at the start of the crash, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA).
In many cases, drivers aren’t paying attention and fail to notice that the car in front of them has stopped or slowed down. As a result, a large number of drivers involved in rear-end crashes either did not apply the brakes at all or did not apply the brakes fully prior to the collision. While these types of crashes often occur at slower speeds, they can still cause serious injuries.
To help drivers avoid rear-end collisions, many new vehicles come equipped with automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems. Two of the most common systems are crash imminent braking and dynamic brake support. Crash imminent braking systems typically use radar to detect a potential accident and then apply the brakes automatically. Dynamic brake support systems apply the brakes with more force when they detect that the driver is failing to slow down fast enough.
These automatic braking systems have been shown to be so promising in preventing crashes and lessening their severity that the NHTSA recently announced that it will add them to its list of recommended advanced safety features included in the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP).
“Adding AEB to our list of recommended features will encourage consumers to consider AEB as a factor in their new car purchase and encourage automakers to make this important innovation more widely available,” said NHTSA administrator Mark Rosekind. “NCAP is a critical tool for enhancing safety, so we are also looking at additional innovations to the program to capitalize on this exciting period of progress in safety technology.”
As we have previously discussed on this San Diego Injury Blog, additional vehicle technology on the list includes front collision warning, a rear view camera, and lane departure warning systems.
If you or someone you love has been seriously injured in a San Diego motor vehicle accident, don’t hesitate to contact a San Diego personal injury attorney at the Law Offices of Robert Vaage for a free consultation.