In what may not come as a surprise, vehicles with automatic braking systems are involved in rear-end crashes (that is, accidents in which a vehicle hits a car directly in front of them) at lower rates than vehicles not equipped with the systems, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS.
The research focused on Forward Collision Warning (FCW) and Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), as well as the suite of systems made by Volvo called City Safety, which includes advanced versions of those two technologies. The research examined vehicles from a number of different automakers including Acura, Honda, Subaru and Volvo, which were equipped with FCW and AEB, as well as vehicles that included just FCW or no crash prevention tech at all.
According to the IIHS research, equipping vehicles with both warning and autobraking systems reduced the rate of rear-end crashes by 39 percent and rear end crashes with injuries by 42 percent. That’s an overall reduction in crashes by 12 percent and a reduction in injury crashes by 15 percent.
AUTOBRAKING SYSTEMS REDUCE REAR-END CRASHES BY 39 PERCENT
The report says that Volvo’s City Safety technology, which reduces accidents and injuries by an even higher rate, “appears to be highly effective at reducing rear-end crashes and associated injuries reported to police, even on roadways with speed limits higher than the system’s operating range.” IIHS estimates that, if every vehicle was equipped with low-speed automatic braking technology similar to Volvo’s, around 750,000 police-reported rear-end crashes and 350,000 corresponding injuries could have been avoided in 2013 alone.
Also studied was the effectiveness of collision warning systems without autobraking — that is, systems where the driver is alerted with audible and visual warnings that a crash is imminent. Though they did deliver a modest reduction in rear-end accidents, there was not a statistically significant reduction in injuries from crashes. This may be because while the collision warning systems may be effective in reducing very low-speed accidents, drivers are unable to react in time to avoid higher-speed crashes.
With autobraking systems, even if an accident is unavoidable, having the car slow itself as much as possible before impact can deliver significant reductions in injuries and severity even if an accident occurs. The study also compared Volvos with City Safety to other Volvos that didn’t have the technology equipped in order to eliminate a possibility of a “Volvo buyer’s effect.” There was no indication that the findings were due to Volvo owners simply being safer drivers.
Though systems like City Safety don’t promise to always avoid accidents at higher speeds, the car doesn’t turn off collision warnings and autobrake tech when the vehicle is going faster: it can still slow down itself down and reduce the severity of a crash, or avoid one entirely if the vehicle in front is merely going slower, rather than stopped. “Although City Safety was least effective at speed limits of 50 mph or greater,” says the report, “it still reduced rear-end striking crashes significantly at these speed limits.”
THOUGH CITY SAFETY WAS LEAST EFFECTIVE OVER 50 MPH, IT STILL REDUCED CRASHES SIGNIFICANTLY
“The results reinforce our Vision 2020 which states no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo by the year 2020, and it underscores having City Safety be standard on all of our vehicles in order to achieve that goal,” says Volvo spokesman Jim Nichols. “We’re very happy with the results, they’re in line with our expectations, and we’ll continue to improve the technology over the next generations of cars.”
What’s it all mean? Autobraking systems stop accidents by stopping cars. For 2016, 40 percent of US vehicle models are offering collision warning systems with automatic braking as optional equipment, with ten automakers pledging to make automatic braking standard equipment in all their vehicles eventually.
The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the US government agency that regulates vehicle safety, already acknowledges and encourages the implementation of these systems. And, like airbags and seat belts and anti-lock brakes, these collision mitigation technologies could eventually become required equipment.
With debt a looming concern for many college students today, the idea of going to school while earning a paycheck in one’s field may sound too good to be true. The UAA Community & Technical College (CTC) is helping students do just that.
CTC and Continental Auto Group finalized an agreement this month to offer registered apprenticeships for automotive technicians. The agreement marks the college’s first with local industry as part of its plan to embed apprenticeships within its academic and technical programs.
“We are excited about this partnership with Continental,” said Bonnie Nygard, interim dean of the Community & Technical College. “CTC is committed to providing students with quality training to prepare them for workforce entry. An apprenticeship gives students the advantage of classroom instruction and on-the-job training while earning a paycheck.”
Registered apprenticeships are an earn-while-you-learn model. Students take college classes and pay tuition, but they are employees of the sponsoring apprenticeship organization, which means they are compensated while they receive hands-on training.
“We struggle to find automotive technicians,” said Rich Swenson, Fixed Operations Director for Continental Auto Group. “So, it was really eye-opening to find out that we could partner with UAA to grow our own employees and develop a pipeline to find qualified applicants.”
In addition to receiving college credit, students also earn national industry certification. A college’s participation in an apprenticeship program means its programs meet national standards for registration with the U.S. Department of Labor.
“Registered apprenticeships benefit Alaska’s employers by training workers to industry specifications, increasing workforce productivity, enhancing retention and developing future leadership,” said John Hakala, state director of the Labor Department’s Office of Apprenticeship. “Apprentices benefit by learning on the job with current technology and equipment, and earn portable credentials and college credits.”
CTC is the only college in Alaska to have joined the Registered Apprenticeships College Consortium or RACC. Participation in RACC signifies high standards of accountability and a commitment to curriculum best practices.
RACC members must have their programs evaluated by a third party organization to determine the college credit value of the apprenticeship completion certificate. All RACC college members must be degree-granting institutions that are accredited by a regional institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Registered apprenticeships have strong support at both the federal and state level and have been endorsed by President Barack Obama and Alaska Gov. Bill Walker.
Many of Continental team members have a lot of fun donating their time and energy to many local charitable organizations and community causes.
On December 19th, seven brave team members participated in the annual Polar Plunge at Goose Lake and raised over $2000 that will benefit Special Olympics of Alaska. Together we do great things!
Jumpers from left to right are: Morgan Wright-Continental Tire & Auto; Ashley Soennichsen-Accounting; Breanna Osenga-Honda Service; Connie Willard-Accounting; Brye Warner-Subaru Service; Kim Schlimgen-Customer Relations; and Linda Gerwin-Accounting.
Well, this sucks. Despite my previous excellent advice and helped along by slick road conditions, you’ve gotten stuck, or even slid into someone or something. (Or been slid into.) Great. Now what?
First, of course, in the event of a collision, if you or anyone else involved has been injured, call 911. Or even if only your cars have been injured, call 911. If only your dignity has been injured, however, 911 doesn’t want to hear from you. If you’re in a city that requires it, like Anchorage (and there were no injuries), you’ll want to move the cars to a spot that doesn’t block traffic, such as a nearby parking lot. If you’re able, do all the normal post-collision stuff: call your insurance company, snap pictures of the accident, exchange information with the other driver, get statements from witnesses, post about your crappy day to Facebook. That kind of thing.
If you haven’t been in a collision but are merely stuck, you can call a tow truck, but you’ll feel mighty silly (and a little bit poorer) if the tow truck gets there and the driver hops in your car and simply drives it right back onto the road for you. So if you can do so safely, you should probably try to unstick yourself before admitting defeat. Here are some tips for doing just that.
If you are anywhere where you might create a road hazard, put your emergency lights on. (Remember that winter conditions can make it harder for other drivers to spot you.)
Clear any snow from in front of and behind your car with the snow shovel that of course is in your trunk. Break up ice with anything sharp you have available, being careful not to puncture the tires.
While you’re out there: remove any snow, ice, or mud that might have gotten shoved into your exhaust pipe. Because carbon monoxide.
If you’re by yourself, get back in the car, turn off electronic stability control if you’ve got it, and slowly, slowly (don’t jam on the gas) try to steer the car out of its current spot. If you can’t get immediately out, try going forward, then quickly reversing, then back and forth a few more times, also know as “rocking.” (Only try this a few times; too much and you can damage your transmission.) Sometimes this can get you just far enough out of the really slick spot.
You can also use items to try to give your car traction: ice melt or kitty litter in front of/behind your tires, your car mats, even cardboard. I’ve successfully used cheap carpet mats that I happened to have on hand (I was stuck in front of my own driveway ... hey, it was really slick, and I lived on a hill!). Use what you’ve got as long as it won’t hurt your car, you, or anything else expensive.
If you’ve got help, try having others push while you do all the above, if they can do it safely. IMPORTANT: Anyone pushing should be very careful not to exert themselves beyond what their bodies can handle. Every winter people die of heart attacks triggered by overexertion.
Finally, once you get moving, don’t stop. Continue driving, slowly and safely—I know I keep using that word; that’s ‘cause “safely” is kind of a big deal—to your destination. Or back home. Back home is always a great option. I’m a big fan of back home. It usually has heat and warm beverages and wifi.
Didn’t work, huh? Well, it happens. Time to call a tow truck. And post about the whole crappy day to Facebook.
That’s all for today. Next time we’ll talk about something a little more fun than the pain caused by eternal, endless, dark, dark winter. No, really. We will.
Well, this sucks. Despite my