We love to drive here in the United States, so much so we cover an estimated 3 trillion miles every year on the road. The downside: there are an estimated 37,000 fatalities due to traffic accidents on those same roads.
According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel, those numbers become even more startling globally as 1.24 million people die and 50 million more are seriously injured in traffic accidents every year.
To help combat this problem, in-car crash prevention systems are beginning to take hold in new models. More than 20 percent of 2014 car models now have a front-crash prevention system with automatic braking a standard option when you buy, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
While most of the in-car technology a few years ago focused on entertainment, vehicle safety is now beginning to take center stage in the in-car tech space. That aforementioned 20 percent number for front crash prevention systems is twice the rate it was in 2012 and IIHS adds that warning systems, minus the auto-braking, are now optional in almost 40 percent of new vehicles being issued.
The U.S. government has been working on an action that will eventually require automakers to equip all new vehicles with technology that lets cars warn each other if they're plunging toward a potential accident. While this action may still be some years off, it clearly has "game-changing potential" to cut collisions, deaths and injuries, according to many traffic safety experts.
While all this in-car safety tech will undoubtedly save lives, it will also help reduce the staggering costs of highway crashes.
A new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has revealed some shocking statistics about car crashes in the United States; they add up to a staggering $871 billion in economic costs and societal harm in just one year.
"We want Americans to live long and productive lives, but vehicle crashes all too often make that impossible," said NHTSA Acting Administrator David Friedman. "This new report underscores the importance of our safety mission and why our efforts and those of our partners to tackle these important behavioral issues and make vehicles safer are essential to our quality of life and our economy."
Along with the advances being made in crash prevention that focus on the automobile, we're also seeing in-car safety tech that zeros in on the driver. New driver fatigue warning systems are in the offing whereby tiny, dash-mounted camera systems with infrared sensors track eye movements and pupil dilation while you drive. Should the driver begin to nod off, the device will issue a sharp alarm.
