Photo: WBZ NewsRadio
WESTWOOD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A new study by AAA finds that technology that is engineered to help cars back up more safely will fail to prevent a crash only half of the time. In scenarios that involve cross traffic behind the vehicle, the technology almost never fully prevents a collision, according to the study.
“Backing unsafely is a serious issue: from 2018-22, more than 36,000 crashes across Massachusetts listed “backing” as a vehicle’s action prior to collision, according to MassDOT IMPACT Crash Data Portal. It also says that over 2,200 of those crashes resulted in an injury and 13 resulted in a fatality.
The Reverse automatic emergency braking (AEB) technology is designed to automatically activate a car’s brakes when it detects a potential collision behind the car. Reverse AEB has been proven to work in situations where a vehicle might back into another stationary vehicle and is now available in approximately 30% of new cars.
“Our tests show that reverse automatic emergency braking has clear benefits”, said Mark Schieldrop, Senior Spokesperson for AAA Northeast. “But it’s no substitute for an attentive driver.”
AAA Northeast is a not-for-profit auto club with 67 offices in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire and New York, providing more than 6 million local AAA members with travel, insurance, finance, and auto-related services.
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