TOGETHER FOR SAFER ROADS APPLAUDS HISTORIC AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKE COMMITMENT BY 20 AUTOMAKERS

MARCH 17, 2016

Together for Safer Roads (TSR) applauds today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) that 20 automakers, representing more than 99 percent of the U.S. auto market, are making automatic emergency braking (AEB) a standard feature on virtually all new cars by 2022. According to the IIHS, this commitment is estimated to prevent 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries.

With road crashes rising to the 7^th leading cause of death by 2030ⁱ, innovative technological advances—such as AEB—can drastically reduce the number of deaths and injuries worldwide. As a coalition of private sector companies, TSR congratulates the auto market on working together with the public sector to advance road safety as a global public health, human development, and economic growth issue.

AEB includes vehicle safety technologies that have the potential to prevent a crash or reduce the impact speed of a crash. Systems alert the driver to an imminent crash and help them use the braking capacity of the car. AEB also applies the brakes independently of the driver if the situation becomes serious. In fact, research indicates 38 percent of rear-end crashes could be avoided for vehicles fitted with AEB when compared to similar vehicles without AEB.ⁱⁱ

Click here to learn more about how the private sector can help advance road safety.

About Together for Safer Roads

Together for Safer Roads (TSR) is an innovative coalition that brings together global private sector companies, across industries, to collaborate on improving road safety and reducing deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes globally. TSR brings together members’ knowledge, data, technology, and global networks to focus on five areas that will make the greatest impact globally and within local communities. These focus areas align with the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety’s Five Pillars by developing programs to address issues in road safety management, safer roads and mobility, safer vehicles, safer road users, and post-crash response. Learn more at www.togetherforsaferroads.org.

ⁱ World Health Organization (2015). “Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015.”

ⁱⁱ Fildes, B., Keall, M., Bos, N., Lie, A., Page, Y., Pastor, C., . . . Tingvall, C. (2015). Effectiveness of low speed autonomous emergency braking in real-world rear-end crashes. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 81, 24-29.