Stop The Crash

25 March 2014

 Auto-Braking Cars: Government Should Meet Motorists Halfway

• 90 per cent of road crashes are due to human error or distraction
• £90,000 - total cost of the average injury crash
• 18 per cent reduction in third party injury claims for AEB-fitted cars
• 550,000 whiplash claims annually in the UK cost £2billion, adding £90 to the average car insurance premium
• 23% of new cars on sale today have AEB as optional or standard fit
• Less than 10 per cent cars sold have AEB specified
• Regulation or Government incentive of £500 needed to accelerate take-up

As part of a drive to increase the fitment of Autonomous Emergency Braking, Thatcham Research is calling for a government incentive for drivers buying cars with anti-crash technology which could save 60 lives and result in 760 fewer serious casualties reported to the police, in just three years. Over 10 years, such an incentive would save 1,220 lives and nearly 136,000 casualties.

At a briefing seeking support from senior politicians, health organisations, insurers and vehicle manufacturers at the House of Commons this morning (25th March), Peter Shaw, Chief Executive of Thatcham Research said that initial UK data show cars equipped with autonomous emergency braking (AEB) have 18 per cent fewer third party injury claims. Similar studies from the USA highlighted a 26 per cent reduction in injuries; and Switzerland and Sweden front/rear crashes cut by 31 per cent and 48 per cent respectively.

He called for support for a Thatcham Research campaign ‘Stop the Crash’ which plans to ask the Treasury to introduce and fund a £500 incentive for those choosing to buy new cars with AEB fitted. He claimed that such a scheme would see 100 per cent of the UK new car fleet fitted with AEB by 2025 which could avoid over 17,000 deaths and serious injuries on the UK’s roads in a decade from 2015.

Insurers are already offering discounted premiums for cars fitted with AEB and Euro NCAP recognises its life -saving potential.