A report released by the National Transportation Safety Board calls for more widespread use of collision mitigation systems with active braking among commercial and passenger vehicles.
The special report, titled The Use of Forward Collision Avoidance Systems to Prevent and Mitigate Rear-End Crashes, concluded that collision mitigation systems can prevent or lessen the severity of many rear-end crashes.
“You don’t pay extra for your seatbelt,” said NTSB chairman Christopher A. Hart. “And you shouldn’t have to pay extra for technology that can help prevent a collision altogether.”
The NTSB wants NHTSA to do more testing on the systems and for vehicle manufacturers to make them standard, reports Heavy Duty Trucking.
Those are among 12 recommendations made in support of forward collision avoidance technologies made over 20 years. New and repeated recommendations were outlined in today’s report, according to HDT:
It found a lack of incentives and limited public awareness has stunted the widespread adoption of collision avoidance technology. The NTSB wants to see collision mitigation systems made standard on new trucks and passenger vehicles.
“The promise of a next generation of safety improvements has been used too often to justify inaction,” Hart said. “Because there will always be better technologies over the horizon, we must be careful to avoid letting perfection become the enemy of the good.”
Watch Hart’s address here and read the full report here.