10,000 deaths could be stopped with current vehicle technologies

10,000 deaths could be stopped with current vehicle technologies

If widely adopted, advanced driver assistance systems could prevent about 9,900 deaths and save $251 billion a year, says a new study from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

–Because the vast majority of crashes in the United States are caused by driver error, the lack of adoption of these technologies with the U.S. fleet is a siginificant missed opportunity,” said Xavier Mosquet, a coauthor of the study, which was commissioned by the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA). He said that fully autonomous vehicles could further reduce crashes by 90 percent or more.

The study focused on seven driver technologies: forward collision warning/assist/adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, night vision, lane departure warning/lane keep assist, adaptive front lighting, surround view and park assist features. BCG said wider use of these systems could prevent 28 percent of all crashes in the U.S.

But relatively few vehicles on the road today have these features, and their market penetration is growing at just 2 to 5 percent annually. Part of the reason for slow adoption is that consumers are unwilling to pay as much for the features as they cost to make and market. In a recent consumer survey, most car owners said they would be willing to pay $100 to $400 for blind spot detection, but its retail cost is $595 per vehicle.