Thatcham company joins support for automatic braking system

Some 60 lives could be saved and there would be 760 fewer serious casualties in three years, according to Thatcham Research Centre, which wants the Govern-ment to “meet motorists halfway” in funding the cost of fitting automatic braking systems.
The Colthrop Way centre is urging the Government to give people incentives for buying the technology, saying that 90 per cent of traffic accidents are the result of human error or distraction and that there is an 18 per cent reduction in third party injury claims when auton-omous emergency brake-fitted cars are involved.
Twenty three per cent of new cars on sale today have AEB as optional or standard fit, although fewer than 10 per cent of cars sold have AEB specified.
Thatcham Research Centre chief executive Peter Shaw recently attended a briefing seeking support from senior politicians, health organisations, insurers and vehicle manufacturers at the House of Commons
He called for support for the centre’s campaign Stop the Crash, which plans to ask the Treasury to fund a £500 incentive scheme for those choosing to buy new cars with AEB fitted.
This would result in 100 per cent of the UK new car fleet fitted with AEB by 2025, which could avoid more than 17,000 deaths and serious injuries on the UK’s roads in a decade from 2015, said Mr Shaw.
“Vehicle technology has been a major factor in cutting UK road deaths from 7,000-plus in the 1970s to 1,754 in 2012... so it is easy to see how driver intervention systems can help to substantially reduce the risk or impact of a crash.
“A responsible driver who pays extra to reduce the potential impact of their car should benefit from a helping hand from the Government.
“The time is right to demonstrate to consumers that vehicles with AEB should be their natural choice and we calculate that, with a £500 cash incentive – about half the additional cost of the AEB system – the Government would be meeting the motorist halfway.
“Today, the average injury crash costs around £90,000. The costs of emergency services, NHS, road repairs, congestion, lost output and insurance are the tangibles – while the human loss and suffering are felt across families for years. Many of these losses are avoidable.”

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