Crash Avoidance Technology To Become Standard Equipment?

Safety is on the minds of everyone, but especially auto manufacturers. Car companies like Honda and Chevrolet have come a long way on vehicle safety with airbags, seat belts, and back up cameras. They have more recently added lane departure warning, lane change assist, forward collision alert, and even brake assist in order to reduce and eliminate accidents on the roads today.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced last week that it wants to make these safety features installed as standards on all new passenger vehicles as well as commercial vehicles. What prompted this issuance? Part of the report that they issued showed that 1,700 lives are claimed annually by rear end accidents.

The NTSB believes that this technology installed on all new vehicles should be required safety equipment just like airbags and seatbelts are today. They believe that all safety equipment should not be an option and that everyone who purchases a vehicle at a car dealership should have access to this life saving safety technology.

You don’t have to pay extra for a seatbelt, or airbags, so the NTSB doesn’t think you should have to pay extra for forward collision alert, brake assist, and other safety technology should cost you extra. Only 684 vehicles, most from Chevy, came equipped with a fully functional forward collision avoidance system in 2014 as standard features.

Automakers are all for providing safety to its customers, but they are worried about the increase in cost. Requiring this equipment will drive up the cost to purchase and maintain a vehicle, which could be bad for the economy. Although this technology is a good way to increase the likeliness of avoiding a crash, it would take drivers avoiding texting/calling while driving as well as avoiding distractions to really make an impact in rear end collisions.