Safety & Accident

The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released a policy that outlines guidelines for driving and testing vehicles with different levels of autonomous driving capabilities.

Tags: Driver safety, vehicle safety technology, NHTSA, autonomous vehicle

Electronic stability control (ESC) systems use computer-controlled braking of individual wheels to help drivers maintain control of a vehicle that's beginning to lose directional control, stability or both.

Tags: vehicle safety technology, NHTSA, electronic stability control

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said those technologies include lane-departure warning, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, automatic braking, electronic stability control, tire pressure monitoring and speed-limiting systems.

Tags: vehicle safety technology, drunk driving, accident prevention, Distracted driving, National Transportation Safety Board, collision avoidance technology, drugged driving

The system warns the driver via sound and display alerts to prompt braking when such a risk is detected, and can help decelerate the vehicle.

Tags: Toyota, vehicle safety technology, accident avoidance safety technologies, rear-end collisions, collision avoidance technology

According to Volvo's accident database, the company's automatic breaking technology alone helped to reduce collisions by 22%.

Tags: Volvo, vehicle safety technology, driver assistance systems

Ford’s early prototypes of two such technologies – Traffic Jam Assist and an advanced version of active park assist – are designed to interact with a vehicle’s surroundings, reduce driver stress and help reduce traffic gridlock, the automaker said.

Tags: Driver safety, vehicle safety technology, accident prevention, fleet safety, accident avoidance safety technologies, in-vehicle technology, Ford Motor Co., Traffic Jam Assist

The study found that advanced driver monitoring and assistance features, for example a forward collision alert system, increases drivers’ focus on the road ahead by 126% when automated steering is operating.

Tags: vehicle safety technology, accident prevention, accident avoidance safety technologies, Distracted driving, General Motors Corp.

Although the report didn’t cite specific structural or technological features of later model-year vehicles, two areas the report found significant improvement including improved rollover protection and side-impact protection.

Tags: Accidents, vehicle safety technology, accident prevention, NHTSA