Despite new preventative tech, crashes increase over three years
Motoring on Female First
New safety technology has failed to halt the rise in rear-end crashes on the road, according to new research by Accident Exchange.
Rear-end shunts – when one car drives into the back of another – have risen by 7%* in the last three years. Each accident causes damage costing an average of £2,000 to repair.
The majority of rear-end collisions occur at low speeds in urban areas but, overall, constitute over a third of all accidents.
The figure has been rising steadily since 2011, despite the adoption of collision avoidance systems, powerful brakes and ABS systems over the last few years.
While not always standard equipment, Audi, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Skoda, Volvo and others provide systems on new cars which can take action – such as braking – autonomously.
Liz Fisher, Director of Sales Development at Accident Exchange, said: “There’s no obvious explanation because the nation’s roads are full of safer, more advanced vehicles which, in some cases, are supposed to help a driver to avoid collisions.
“However, it could be argued that increased connectivity in cars means the modern driver has more distractions while at the wheel from other technology, like mobile phones or MP3 players.”
Under section 126 of the Highway Code, typically if a driver hits another vehicle in the rear, they will be at fault for the incident. However, there are exceptions to the rule; for example, if the driver in front changes lanes and immediately brakes, or slows down suddenly for no reason.
Accident Exchange, part of the Automotive & Insurance Solutions Group, has commercial partnerships with 1,500 franchised dealerships and, last year, guaranteed onward mobility of 100,000 customers.