Some advanced driver assistance features are present in more than 90 percent of new vehicles, according to a new report as part of a partnership between automakers and NHTSA.
The report, published on October 2 by the Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety, found that five ADAS features – forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection warning, pedestrian automatic emergency braking, and lane departure warning – each is in more than 90 percent of 2023 model year vehicles.
Automatic emergency braking, for example, is on 94 percent of 2023 model year vehicles, up from 4 percent in 2015. Many automakers are making voluntary commitments to offer automatic emergency braking on new passenger vehicles starting in 2022.
Forward collision warnings also occurred on 94 percent of vehicles, up from 12.8 percent in 2015.
The report is based on data on approximately 98 million passenger vehicles in the US, accounting for approximately 80 percent of the US passenger vehicle market. Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Stellantis, Subaru and Toyota provided data for 2023 model year vehicles through July 31, 2023.
More than half of 2023 model passenger vehicles have 10 of the 14 features included in the survey. These features include adaptive cruise control, blind spot warning, and lane keeping assist.
The report shows that automakers believe that the safety benefits and competitive advantages of advanced driver assistance systems outweigh the costs and persistent consumer misconceptions about their capabilities and limitations. Manufacturers have forged ahead with voluntary commitments as the federal government slowly regulates and educates consumers about the technology. For example, the Government Accountability Office said in March that NHTSA had not completed a plan to educate consumers about the efficacy of advanced driver assistance features “and has missed time frames even though efforts to make these improvements began years ago.”
Automakers are “committed to reducing deaths in their vehicles and serious injuries,” said Michelle Michelini, director of surface transportation at MITER, which operates the Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety. “They see the big picture.”
While the safety benefits of the most common technologies are well-documented, automakers have struggled to address the issues. For example, drivers have complained of injuries and near misses caused by incorrect activation of automatic emergency braking that can apply the brakes when there are no obstacles. This phenomenon is sometimes called “phantom braking”.
NHTSA estimated in April that 40,990 people would die in 2023 as a result of motor vehicle traffic crashes. Even though this figure is down by 3.6 percent compared to 2022, the government and industry are still working to prevent and mitigate accidents, injuries and deaths. American drivers still maintain unsafe driving behaviors that have increased during the pandemic, such as speeding.
“These features help reduce some of those behaviors,” Michelini said.