The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) came out today with the following statistics:
23% of crashes are run-off-road/loss of control incidents
28% of crashes are rear-end collisions
9% of crashes were caused by bad lane changes
The reason why NHTSA rolled out these numbers is to make the case that forward collision avoidance technologies like Electronic Stability Control (ESC), pre-braking systems and sensors to detect vehicles should be standard for not only passenger vehicles, but commercial trucks.
the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) estimates that forward collision warning can prevent:
879 fatal crashes annually for passenger vehicles.
115 fatal crashes annually for large trucks.
Lane departure warning can prevent 247 fatal crashes annually.
ESC can prevent 439 fatal crashes annually.
NHTSA and IIHS are trying to make the case for collision avoidance systems to be standard on all vehicles, including commercial trucks. While it was estimated in a 2001 NHTSA report that these systems would add between $2,500 and $3,000 to the cost of a new car it has to be lower today. Since FMVSS 126 became law in September 2006, the cost is much lower. This is why you are seeing more economy vehicles offering this as a standard feature or as an option.
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