Skip to main content

IAM RoadSmart: Auto emergency breaking could save hundreds of lives

Private and fleet car buyers could save hundreds of lives a year by insisting the cars they purchase are fitted with auto emergency braking (AEB), according to UK motoring organisation IAM RoadSmart and coalition partners. The coalition, which comprises car and road design experts, said AEB systems (which automatically apply the vehicle’s brakes if pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles are detected ahead) could save 1, 100 lives and 122, 860 causalities over the next ten years. In addition, the insuran
September 28, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Private and fleet car buyers could save hundreds of lives a year by insisting the cars they purchase are fitted with auto emergency braking (AEB), according to UK motoring organisation IAM RoadSmart and coalition partners.


The coalition, which comprises car and road design experts, said AEB systems (which automatically apply the vehicle’s brakes if pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles are detected ahead) could save 1, 100 lives and 122, 860 causalities over the next ten years. In addition, the insurance industry-funded Thatcham Research calculates that 308 fewer deaths and serious injuries by 2025 and can save society £138 million if buyers insist on AEB.

Peter Shaw, CEO of Thatcham Research said: “There’s an urgent need to change the consumer and fleet mind-set around car safety. Especially when AEB can cost as little as £200. Safety should be a deal-breaker, not a nice to have. If it doesn't have AEB, it shouldn't be a sale.”

Related Content

  • General Motors CEO to kick off 21st ITS World Congress
    July 25, 2014
    The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) today announces that General Motors CEO Mary Barra is to kick off the 21st World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) on 7 September in Detroit, Michigan with an opening keynote speech that will address the changing transportation environment around the world as well as the rapidly evolving technology of connected, autonomous, and electric vehicles. “Connectivity may drive more positive change for customers than any other te
  • UK organisations disagree on smart motorway ‘dangers’
    September 13, 2019
    A spat over how dangerous the UK’s all lane running (ALR) or ‘smart’ motorways are has broken out between Highways England and a leading motoring organisation. Smart motorways do not have hard shoulders, instead relying on emergency areas at intervals to provide refuge for stranded motorists. The AA recently highlighted Stationary Vehicle Detection, a Highways England report published in March 2016, which looks at how long it takes to identify a vehicle broken down in a live lane of smart motorway when s
  • Ito World manifesto calls on cities to embrace MaaS
    September 25, 2018
    Data and alternative transport can combat congestion, pollution and private car dependency in global cities, says Ito World. The UK transit data specialist has published a manifesto which calls on cities to embrace Mobility as a Service (MaaS) to ‘unlock’ their future potential. The MaaS Manifesto: smart data and accessing a city’s potential insists cities also need to have the right infrastructure and ensure the public and private sectors work with emerging players. Ito World says city authorities u
  • ITS America: building the infrastructure for V2X
    May 3, 2013
    By 2024, market penetration of factory fit DSRC-equipped vehicles in the US could rise to 30 per cent, according to US Department of Transportation AASHTO Deployment Analysis 2012, enabling widespread data communications services and kick-starting a national DSRC infrastructure. The question is: who will pay for the infrastructure in the first place? In an interview with Steve Bayless, director of telecomms and telematics at ITS America, Telematics Update investigated which key investors will benefit from s