Thatcham backs mandatory road safety
Thatcham Research has welcomed European Commission’s announcement of proposals for the introduction of new road safety measures and calls on the UK Government and car makers to not hesitate on making Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) mandatory on all cars and vans.
The EU General Safety Regulation (GSR) has not been updated for 10 years, and provides the opportunity to offer UK consumers reassurance that key lifesaving technologies are available on all new vehicles.
The package includes versions of AEB and Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) to be applied in phases for new models from 2020.
Matthew Avery, director of research at Thatcham Research, commented, ‘Just as seatbelts are a legal requirement on all cars and vans, AEB should be as well. We have campaigned for many years for it to be standard on all vehicles, and with the latest AEB systems now capable of identifying pedestrians and cyclists, there is an opportunity for the UK Government to address the growing number of cyclist and pedestrian fatalities.’
AEB is a crash avoidance system that Thatcham Research has campaigned to be standard for the past five years. It has been found that cars with AEB have a 38% reduction in real-world rear-end crashes. Thatcham Research has calculated that it has the potential to save 1,100 lives and more than 120,000 casualties over the next 10 years.
