Skip to main content

Multiple vehicle crashes could soon be a thing of the past, say experts

Experts at Thatcham Research - the UK motor insurers’ automotive research facility, believe that multiple vehicle accidents could be mitigated or avoided altogether with the widespread use of new automatic braking technologies. Thatcham has been researching and testing autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems on behalf of insurers for the last three years and has already undertaken an in-depth study of crashes and their causation factors.
September 25, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Experts at Thatcham Research - the UK motor insurers’ automotive research facility, believe that multiple vehicle accidents could be mitigated or avoided altogether with the widespread use of new automatic braking technologies.

Thatcham has been researching and testing autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems on behalf of insurers for the last three years and has already undertaken an in-depth study of crashes and their causation factors.

A number of major vehicle manufacturers are already providing AEB technologies on their vehicles and such is their effectiveness, as shown in the Thatcham test, that international safety body 6437 Euro NCAP will incorporate the test as part of their overall vehicle safety standard in 2014, whilst UK insurers are already offering favourable insurance groupings on vehicles fitted with AEB as standard.

“The evidence from our testing is undeniable and combined with a growing body of real world research and evidence we firmly believe that AEB and other ADAS (Advanced Driver Assist Systems) have a critical role to play in avoiding both common low-speed shunts that can cause injuries such as whiplash, and mitigating some of the horrendous injuries and fatalities that we see as result of higher speed pile-ups,” says Peter Shaw, chief executive of Thatcham Research.

“Currently, some 20 per cent of new cars in the UK have an AEB system available and if that rate of development continues we would hope that, by 2030, multiple-vehicle collisions could be history.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Crashes affect one in three but drivers continue to take risks
    February 13, 2015
    According to the AAA Foundation’s latest Traffic Safety Culture Index, too many Americans report that they regularly speed, run red lights, use distracting devices or drive drowsy, despite the fact that one in three have a loved one who has been seriously injured or killed in a crash. The results further find that unsafe behaviour persists even though one in five drivers have themselves been involved in a serious crash, and one in ten has been seriously injured in a crash. These most recent findings from
  • ITS technology reduces congestion, improves workzone safety
    July 17, 2012
    As the road-building season gets under way in the US, the Federal Highway Administration has just published a White Paper which deals with the use of ITS technology in work zones. On 30 April 2009, the US Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published a White Paper which was prepared by the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) to inform public agencies about the use of ITS to manage construction work zones. This is a particularly relevant topic given the large number of construction projects that are ex
  • US DOT proposes broader use of event data recorders
    December 10, 2012
    In an effort to help improve vehicle safety, the US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed a new standard that would capture valuable safety-related data in the seconds before and during a motor vehicle crash. The proposed rule would require automakers to install event data recorders (EDRs), devices that collect specific safety related data, in all light passenger vehicles beginning in September 2014. “By understanding how drivers respond in a cras
  • In-vehicle fleet management system reduces losses
    May 4, 2012
    Loomis offers products and services that provide complete cash logistics solutions for financial institutions, retailers and other commercial enterprises. The company is present in twelve European countries and the USA and has just over 20,000 employees. At Loomis safety is considered good business. Presented with the opportunity to reduce both accident frequency and associated primary liability costs, the company equipped the majority of its US armoured truck and van fleet with the Driver Safety Measuremen