Studies find automatic braking can cut crashes over 40%

By TOM KRISHER
AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) — Two new U.S. studies show that automatic emergency braking can cut the number of rear-end automobile crashes in half, and reduce pickup truck crashes by more than 40%. The studies by a government-auto industry partnership and the insurance industry each used crash data to make the calculations. Automatic emergency braking can stop vehicles if a crash is imminent, or slow them to make a crash less serious. The Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety found front-to-rear crashes were cut 49% when the striking vehicle had forward collision alert plus automatic braking, when compared with vehicles that didn’t have either system.