The NTBS says the need for collision avoidance systems on cars and trucks is immediate.
According to the NTSB, in 2012, 1.7 million rear-end crashes occurred on U.S. highways, resulting in 1,700 fatalities and 500,000 injuries. The NTSB says many of those crashes could have been mitigated or avoided if rear-end collision avoidance systems were in place.
The NTSB calls out the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration for “slow and insufficient action” for not developing standards for the technology and for not mandating the technology on all cars and commercial vehicles.
“Due to a lack of progress in the implementation of NTSB recommendations intended to mitigate or prevent rear-end crashes, the recent technological advancements in collision avoidance technologies, and the continued prevalence of rear-end crashes, the NTSB is revisiting the topic of rear-end crash prevention,” the NTSB states.
The NTSB is recommending the NHTSA:
-Review of the progress of implementing crash detection systems.
-Examine real-world and predicted efficiency of crash avoidance systems and the potential for preventing rear-end crashes.
and
-Examining current assessment methods and rating systems for crash avoidance technologies and exploring options for increasing the presence of the technology.
- For manufacturers to install forward collision avoidance systems as standard features on all newly manufactured passenger and commercial motor vehicles,
- For NHTSA to expand the New Car Assessment Program to include a graded rating to assess the performance of forward collision avoidance systems, and
- For NHTSA to expand or develop protocols for the assessment of forward collision avoidance systems in passenger and commercial vehicles.