IST Summary of FMCSA Study: Research and Testing to Accelerate Voluntary Adoption of Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) on Commercial Vehicles
Institute for Safer Trucking’s Summary of FMCSA Study:
Research and Testing to Accelerate Voluntary Adoption of Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) on Commercial Vehicles
Published May 2020 by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)
Important Takeaways:
Fleets that use automatic emergency braking have found the frequency and severity of their crashes have decreased. Several studies included also corroborated the benefits of using AEB:
AEB could prevent 31–37 percent of heavy vehicle front-to-rear crashes, resulting in 26,000–31,000 fewer crashes, 2,000–3,000 fewer injuries, and 98–115 fewer fatalities.[1]
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that large-truck AEB could prevent up to 11,499 crashes, 7,703 injury crashes, and 173 fatal crashes each year.[2]
Heavy vehicles with AEB were involved in 20.7 percent fewer front-to-rear crashes compared to heavy vehicles without AEB.[3]
Widespread adoption of Automatic Emergency Braking has yet to occur despite increasing take rates. Estimated take rates (percentage equipped) of AEB on new class 8 trucks went from 1 percent in 2009 to 50 percent in 2017.[4]
Major technological barriers exist for adoption of AEB in class 4-6 trucks because this technology generally relies on electronic stability control (ESC) to operate which is NOT standard on most medium-duty trucks. This barrier does not exist for class 7 and 8 trucks because ESC is standard on these large trucks (available as early as 2004) and was mandated for all new class 7 and 8 trucks several years ago (rule took effect in 2015).
Several actions can be taken to expedite voluntary AEB adoption on new vehicle purchases to increase the percentage of class 7 and 8 trucks equipped with AEB:
Develop and disseminate tools to help fleets understand AEB’s potential to reduce crash risks and associated liability,
Develop tools to help fleets understand the return on investment of equipping their trucks with AEB,
Create consensus-based standards for AEB functions and interface to improve consistency across an array of brands and number of generations that operate and look different,
Create training standards for the use of AEB so that drivers are more accepting of this technology and can drive with it effectively.
Link to FMCSA Report: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/49335
References:
[1] Jermakian, J. S. “Crash Avoidance Potential of Four Large Truck Technologies.” Accident Analysis and Prevention 49: 338-346, 2012.
[2] Glassbrenner, D., Morgan, A., Kreeb, R., Svenson, A., Liddell, H., Barickman, F. “A Target, Population for Automatic Emergency Braking in Heavy Vehicles.” Report No. DOT HS 812 390. Washington, D.C.: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2017.
[3] Hickman, J. S., Guo, F., Camden, M. C., Medina, A., Hanowski, R. J., Mabry, E. “Onboard Safety System Effectiveness Evaluation Final Report.” Report No. FMCSA-RRT-12-012. Washington, D.C.: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 2013.
[4]Kevin Grove, Matthew Camden, Andrew Krum, and Richard Hanowski. “Research and Testing to Accelerate Voluntary Adoption of Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) on Commercial Vehicles.” Report No. FMCSA-RRT-18-013. Washington, D.C.: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 2020.