Georgia Injury Law Blog
Faulty car brakes can cause horrific accidents usually resulting in serious injuries. Federal regulators are working on new laws in the next couple of years that would require auto manufacturers to install automatic emergency braking systems in their cars. Safety advocates, however, are calling on regulators to require manufacturers to install systems that work in all light conditions, including at night.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has made it clear that it will be working on completing rulemaking by 2024, requiring auto manufacturers to install pedestrian automatic emergency braking systems in all their automobiles. These systems work at detecting pedestrians in the path of the car. There is significant research that shows the efficacy of these systems in helping protect pedestrians against accidents. For instance, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has conducted research that clearly shows the benefits of pedestrian automatic emergency braking systems in helping motorists to avoid pedestrians. Collisions with motor vehicles are a major cause of injuries and fatalities in pedestrian accidents every year.
The researchers found that the systems significantly help prevent collisions in the daytime. There isn’t significant data pointing to the effectiveness of the systems at night, however. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is calling on federal regulators to pressure automakers to install pedestrian automatic emergency braking systems that work both in the daytime as well as at night. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, it has found in its studies that these systems can be enhanced to make them very effective during low visibility conditions like night-time as well.
As of now, it is not clear what kind of federal standards the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to include in its rulemaking. However, considering that the vast majority of pedestrian accidents do occur at night or in low visibility conditions, it is important for federal regulators to include night-time protections in any mandate. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that in a study, it found that most pedestrian automatic emergency braking systems did not perform well in preventing night-time pedestrian accidents. However, one car did perform well, and this indicates that preventing night- time accidents using emergency braking systems is not impossible. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety wants federal regulators to focus on preventing accidents in low visibility conditions as well.
The increase in pedestrian accidents over the past couple of years has been a source of great concern to federal regulators. The new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration head has made clear his intention to focus on reducing the number of people killed in traffic and highway accidents every year. Reducing the number of fatal pedestrian accidents will be a key component of that strategy. Technology that identifies pedestrians in the path of the vehicle and automatically applies the brakes in an emergency situation, can go a long way in helping reduce these accidents.
The Atlanta car accident attorneys at the Katz Personal Injury Lawyers are dedicated to the representation of persons who have suffered injuries in car accidents in the metro Atlanta region and across Georgia. If you or a loved one have suffered injuries in a car accident, talk to an Atlanta car accident attorney at the Katz Personal Injury Lawyers and determine if you have legal options to a claim for damages. You could be eligible for a claim that helps you recover damages for medical expenses, lost income and other types of compensation.