New Car Technology To Save Dozens Of Lives

The ‘giant step forward’ for pedestrian safety is the culmination of years of intensive research undertaken and commissioned by Thatcham, the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre.



AEB (Autonomous Emergency Braking) systems incorporate a raft of cutting edge initiatives tested by Thatcham, utilise a variety technologies to automatically stop a car before it hits a pedestrian, including radar, camera and lasers.



Test results show that once incorporated in to all production models more than 650 serious injuries and 64 fatalities will be prevented in Britain each year.



A total of more than 2,700 pedestrian casualties will be prevented in Britain each year.



Ninety two per cent of pedestrian collisions occur at speeds of 30mph or under – within the performance limits of most new safety systems.



The ground-breaking research, carried out at Thatcham and Loughborough University, has identified for the first time the most common crash situations, which have been used to define test procedures that will allow the new systems to be rated.



Teams of researchers accompanied emergency services to record real life data at the scene of hundreds of accidents across the country.



Some of the AEB systems will also make a massive impact by preventing over 160,000 painful and debilitating whiplash injuries caused each year by the most common crash – the rear end shunt.



Sixteen thousand of these whiplash injuries are rated as serious with 1,600 causing permanent disability or impairment.



A total of more than 270,000 crashes will be either prevented or mitigated once the systems are ubiquitous across the fleet.



Matthew Avery, Thatcham Research Manager Crash said: “These systems are set to make a massive impact on the number and severity of accidents on British roads and beyond.



“I believe that in time they will prove as or more effective than the arrival of ESC (Electronic Stability Control) have been over the last decade or so.



“We are working alongside vehicle manufacturers to help develop them further in the future – and would encourage the inclusion of such systems as standard fit in new cars.



Six systems have been under test from vehicle manufacturers as diverse as BMW, Ford, Subaru, Toyota, Volvo and Mercedes.



It is hoped that the Thatcham AEB protocols, now being developed, will be considered in any future Euro NCAP testing procedures for new car safety ratings.



ACCIDENTS ON BRITISH ROADS – THE HARD HITTING FACTS



AEB Crash Reduction Statistics



PEDESTRIANS



CURRENT UK STATISTICS



■26,887 pedestrians are injured on UK roads annually (DfT, RRCGB)

■6,045 pedestrians are killed or seriously injured (DfT, RRCGB)

■62% of children killed on UK roads were pedestrians (DfT, RRCGB)

■500 pedestrians are killed on UK roads (DfT, RRCGB)

■37 children are killed annually on UK roads, and 1,623 are seriously injured (DfT, RRCGB)

■71% of pedestrians are visible at 1.5 seconds before impact (AEB Accidentology Report, Loughborough Uni)

■38% of drivers don’t brake in a collision scenario (AEB Accidentology Report, Loughborough Uni)

■92% of pedestrian collisions are below 30mph, the speed range where current AEB systems might avoid the impact (AEB Accidentology Report, Loughborough Uni)

POTENTIAL REDUCTION IN INJURIES WITH AEB EQUIPPED FLEET



■2,777 pedestrian casualties saved (10%)

■2,061 slight injuries

■652 serious injuries

■64 fatalities (13%)

WHIPLASH



CURRENT UK STATISTICS



■2,381,499 damage claims in 2009 (ABI)

■432,000 whiplash injuries on UK roads (ABI)

■75% of crashes occur at speeds under 20 mph (Volvo)

■26% of crashes are front to rear low speed shunts (Thatcham claims study)

POTENTIAL REDUCTION IN INJURIES WITH AEB EQUIPPED FLEET



■271,000 crashes prevented or mitigated

■160,000 whiplash claims prevented