As auto manufacturers continue to feature new tech advances, safety remains the top priority — as it should be.
That's precisely why 10 automakers have pledged to the government and the Insurance Institute for Auto Safety that they will put automatic emergency brakes in all their cars with the aim of reducing traffic injuries and casualties, as reported by the Associated Press. The 10 auto manufacturers are: Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo.
Those specific manufacturers being involved is significant, considering they were responsible for 57 percent of car and light-duty truck sales in the United States last year. Although automatic emergency brakes are already found in some vehicles, they're usually offered as an option in luxury car makers ... when they should come as equipped standard features.
"If technologies such as automatic emergency braking are only available as options or on the most expensive models, too few Americans will see the benefits of this new era," Transportation Department secretary Anthony Foxx told the AP.
The AP reports that the inclusion of automatic emergency braking could prevent or reduce an estimated 80 percent of car and commercial truck rear-end accidents, which cause nearly 1,700 deaths and 500,000 injuries per year in the United States.
Typical automatic emergency braking systems use radar sensors or lasers to detect a likely crash, before warning the driver and applying the brakes if he or she doesn't respond accordingly. While this marks a good start, how long do you think it will take before all vehicles — regardless of the manufacturer — must comply with including automatic emergency brakes as a standard feature?
