There has been consternation recently over how long it will take to solve the puzzle of full vehicle automation. But do not overlook how technologies are bridging the gap until that far-off day and preventing crashes and saving lives — now.
A pair of reports last week show how two increasingly common safety technologies can make a difference.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that the rear-end crash rate of pickups equipped with automatic emergency braking was 43 percent lower than those without it. Given that modern full-size pickups have curb weights that tip the scales at 2 or even 3 tons, plus the weight of passengers, cargo and maybe a trailer, they can do extensive and deadly damage in a collision with other vehicles and pedestrians. That's a lot of tonnage to stop, and the braking tech can mitigate some of the damage from human error — or prevent it.
The second study, a collaborative effort between government and automakers, found …