The Attorneys You Need When It Matters Most

Study finds safety benefits from collision avoidance systems

Oklahoma drivers who have collision avoidance systems in their vehicles may be less likely to be in a motor vehicle accident according to a study released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. For the purposes of the study, the IIHS vice-president of research examined data on more than 5,000 accidents taking place in 2015 that systems alerting the driver to blind spots and lane departure are supposed to prevent.

She found that in vehicles that had the warning system, there were 11 percent fewer accidents involving single-vehicle side swipes or head-on collisions and 21 percent fewer injury accidents of that kind. The organization reported that lane departure warning systems in all vehicles in 2015 would have resulted in over 55,000 fewer injuries.

Other studies from the same year looked at the use of the systems in Volvos in Sweden and trucking fleets in the United States. These studies found that lane departure warning systems could cut accident rates roughly in half.

However, they also suggested that drivers might be turning off their alerts. IIHS believes this is because some of them beep instead of vibrating the driver’s seat and that the beep can be annoying. The cost of the collision avoidance systems as extras is another obstacle with fewer than 10 percent of 2017 model year vehicles including them as standard equipment.

Careless, distracted, drowsy, drunk or otherwise negligent drivers may cause car accidents by drifting into other lanes or ignoring blind spots. These accidents may result in catastrophic injuries ranging from broken bones to permanent injuries such as paralysis or amputation. For these injured people, compensation from the insurance company of the driver responsible can be critical. If the offer from the insurance company is inadequate, an attorney might be able to negotiate a better deal or help file a lawsuit.