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Fitting new cars with autonomous emergency braking could cut injury claims in the U.K.: British insurers


March 4, 2014   by Canadian Underwriter


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The Association for British Insurers (ABI) is calling on motor manufacturers in the United Kingdom to make autonomous emergency braking (AEB) standard on all new cars, suggesting the move could cut personal injury claims by almost a fifth.

Currently, only 23% of new vehicles available in the U.K. have AEB fitted as standard or as an option, notes an ABI statement issued last week.

This is despite research from The Motor Insurance Repair and Research Centre (Thatcham) demonstrating that AEB could lead to an 18% reduction in personal injury claims following road traffic accidents.

AEB uses radar, lasers and optical sensors to identify other vehicles and pedestrians, automatically applying the brakes if the driver does not respond in time to avoid a collision or lessen its impact, the statement notes.

Crash statistics from Thatcham include the following: 75% of crashes occur at speeds under 20 miles per hour; 26% of crashes are front to rear low speed shunts; more than 400,000 whiplash claims are made annually in the U.K.; more than 6,000 pedestrians are killed or seriously injured on U.K. roads every year; and pedestrian casualties account for 23% of all killed and seriously injured.

“Even with clear safety benefits, three-quarters of new vehicles available to U.K. motorists do not have autonomous emergency braking fitted as standard or as an option,” Scott Pendry, ABI’s motor policy advisor, said recently during The Future of Road Safety in the U.K. conference, organized by Inside Government.

“This must change. Fitting this technology as the norm will not only further improve road safety, but will significantly lower insurance costs as AEB is taken into account in the motor insurance group rating system,” Pendry argued.

“Insurers are so supportive of this technology and, in anticipation of the benefits it will bring to road safety, we have already incorporated it as a component into our Group Rating process. Vehicles fitted with AEB will enter a lower group rating, lowering the cost to insure them,” he told conference attendees.

Calling AEB a major advance in road safety technology, Pendry said “universal fitment of AEB is key to achieving a meaningful downward trend in crashes. The technology is with us right now and has huge potential to save lives.”

Pendry also voiced ABI’s support for measures such as graduated driver licensing (GDL), which allows new drivers to build driving experience under low risk conditions, and telematics-based products, which he suggests shows real promise.

“GDL is based on sound evidence and to ignore that evidence by failing to act is resulting in catastrophic results for many young drivers and high premiums for far too many,” Pendry said. “For those young drivers who opt to have their driving behaviour monitored, the technology has been proven to reduce the cost of their car insurance,” he told attendees.

“In the context of an environment where people focus simplistically on the cost of young driver insurance premiums rather than stopping to ask why the price is high, the industry has quantified the impact on premiums and we estimate that based on the introduction of GDL in full, premiums will reduce by to 20%,” Pendry reported.

“We need the government to grip the bull by the horns, and issue a Green Paper which includes all the options,” he argued. “Introducing the fundamental change that is required will not be easy, but the experience from abroad – the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand – has shown that it can be done.”


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