Crash prevention: safety group offers input on automatic braking

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A science-fiction world in which spaceship-type cars fly effortlessly to their destinations still lives only in the imagination.

To be sure, car design has improved somewhat since the more primitive earlier iterations of the industry. But safety recalls remain common and the automobile industry still has plenty of work to do in order to create safer cars.

One area of such work involves the development of automatic braking systems. In this post, we will take note of how automakers are responding to a new crash-prevention program emphasizing such systems.

The program is sponsored by a respected safety group, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IHS).

Less than a year ago, the IHS put in place a safety-rating program aimed at preventing crashes.

The program involves assessment of the safety capacities for preventing crashes, particularly by using automatic brakes.

The vehicles tested for safety by the IHS were primarily larger cars. Many of the models were SUVS or luxury cars.

The feedback on the new models that IHS has given to automakers has already led to further improvements, according to the IHS’s chief researcher.

The rating system assigns front-end crash prevention features to one of three categories. Front crash prevention essentially means automatic braking, with varying levels of speed reduction.

The more advanced crash-prevention systems may also provide a warning of some type to the driver of a possibly impending crash.

There is no technological fix that can take a way car accident risks entirely. As we have discussed, however, efforts are underway to create automatic braking systems that offer incremental progress in helping drivers avoid crashes.

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