A recent study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) highlights a significant increase in the use of crash avoidance technologies among drivers. Nearly 90 percent of drivers now keep lane departure warning and prevention systems activated, and 70 percent use visual alerts for speed limit violations. These findings reflect both a growing awareness of the safety benefits of such systems and automakers’ success in improving user acceptance.
Increased Usage of Lane Departure Systems
According to the IIHS study, 87 percent of vehicles examined had their lane departure warning and prevention systems turned on, a substantial increase from the 51 percent observed eight years ago. The growing acceptance of these systems is due, in part, to design improvements that make them less intrusive for drivers. David Harkey, President of IIHS, noted, “These results hint at a growing awareness that crash avoidance systems and other technologies can improve safety. They also indicate that automakers’ efforts to increase usage rates have been a success.”
Lane departure systems address around 23 percent of fatal crashes involving passenger vehicles, focusing on preventing sideswipe, head-on, and run-off-road crashes. However, their impact on insurance claims and crash rates has been less pronounced compared to forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems, which target more common front-to-rear collisions.
Factors Contributing to Increased Activation
The study found that the design of in-vehicle settings plays a crucial role in whether drivers keep safety systems activated. Vehicles with lane departure systems that are controlled through a settings menu rather than a button had higher activation rates. In contrast, eight years ago, most systems were activated by buttons, and the less popular warning-only systems were more frequently switched off. The current study revealed that 99 percent of vehicles had lane departure prevention, and 76 percent of those had the prevention function enabled, compared to just 11 percent with only the warning feature activated.
Additionally, changes in alert modes contributed to the system’s acceptance. Past research showed that drivers found audible lane departure alerts annoying. To address this, many manufacturers have shifted to haptic alerts, such as seat or steering wheel vibrations, which are less intrusive. Four out of the six automakers in the study either primarily used haptic alerts or offered them as an option, leading to higher activation rates compared to those still using audible alerts.
Adoption of Speed Limit Alerts
The study also revealed high usage rates for visual speeding alerts, a relatively new feature in the U.S. Seventy percent of vehicles had visual speed warnings enabled, compared to only 14 percent for systems that used audible alerts. These systems, known as intelligent speed assistance (ISA), use cameras, GPS databases, or both to detect speed limits and alert drivers when they exceed them.
Despite initial skepticism regarding American drivers’ willingness to use such technology, the findings are promising. As Harkey explained, “The increased acceptance of lane departure prevention should translate into larger reductions in crash rates. The same thing can happen with anti-speeding alerts — which these results show are already more popular with drivers than some experts believed possible.”
Opportunities for Further Improvements
Although the study shows a positive trend, IIHS researchers identified several opportunities to further increase the effectiveness of these systems. One potential improvement is to deliver vehicles with speed warnings already activated, or to configure alerts to engage when drivers exceed the speed limit by a certain margin, such as 5 or 10 mph.
Another option is to design the alerts to escalate from visual to audible or haptic warnings if the driver does not reduce speed. This approach could help make ISA systems more effective, particularly in residential areas and other zones with higher risks for pedestrians and cyclists.
Crash Avoidance Technologies
The IIHS study demonstrates that advancements in the design of lane departure and speed limit warning systems have led to higher usage rates, making roads safer for everyone. As crash avoidance technologies continue to evolve, drivers’ growing acceptance of these systems bodes well for further reductions in crash rates and fatalities. With continued improvements, these systems have the potential to make an even greater impact on traffic safety in the future.
See Also — IIHS Finds Back Seat Passenger Safety Lacking in Most Midsize SUVs
Image courtesy of IIHS.
