Auto accident prevention technologies like forward collision warning systems do a very good job of reducing the risk of auto accidents involving passenger vehicles, but may not be as effective in preventing motorcycle accidents and trucking accidents.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently released the findings of two new studies which found that forward collision warning systems and automatic emergency braking systems are very beneficial in reducing the risk of car accidents involving passenger vehicles, but not as effective in preventing accidents involving motorcycles and trucks. The studies focused on more than 160,000 auto accidents involving passenger vehicles, large trucks and motorcycles.
According to the studies, these systems can help reduce the risk of rear-ender auto accidents involving passenger vehicles by as much as 53%. However, they were found to reduce the risk of accidents involving large commercial trucks by only 38% and motorcycle accidents by 41%. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, as many as 5,500 lives could be saved every year if auto accident prevention systems were enhanced to make them more effective in identifying and reducing the risk of colliding with large tractor trailers. An additional 500 lives could be saved in motorcycle accidents if these technologies could be improved to help identify motorcycles that are notoriously harder to identify for motorists.