Automatically Intervening Driver Assistance Technologies Found to Be Most Effective in Reducing Crashes.

An Analysis of the Relative Effectiveness of Advanced Driver Assistance Technologies Using Insurance Claims Information.

Date Posted
01/26/2021
Identifier
2021-B01526
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Compendium of HLDI collision avoidance research

Summary Information

Auto manufacturers are increasingly equipping newer model vehicles with a wide variety of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). ADAS are technologies that aim to make driving safer and easier by partially automating driving tasks or by providing the driver with additional information about the environment. Examples of ADAS include forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, blind spot warning, and park sensors.

Researchers at the Highway Loss Data Institute, a part of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, studied the real-world effects of eight different ADAS on driver safety. The eight technologies studied were:

  • Forward collision warning
  • Front automatic emergency braking
  • Curve-adaptive headlights
  • Lane departure warning
  • Blind spot warning
  • Parking sensors
  • Rear cameras
  • Rear automatic emergency breaking

To study these technologies the team gathered detailed insurance claims data provided by car insurance companies. The team then figured out which vehicles involved in the insurance claims had ADAS. Finally, the team used regression to estimate the relative impact of each type of ADAS system on crash frequency and crash severity.

The team found:

  • "Collision avoidance technologies that automatically respond in a crash-imminent situation were more effective for reducing third-party vehicle damage and third-party injury claim frequencies than technologies that only inform or warn drivers."
  • "With the exception of lane departure warning, the combined effects for all of the technologies are associated with statistically significant reductions in claim frequencies. The only statistically significant increase in claim frequency was associated with rear cameras under collision coverage."