Rear-end crashes could be history as new technology applies the brakes. It’s the most common car crash. A low-speed collision where one car runs into the back of the other due to a sudden halt in traffic.
Now a new technology could prevent rear end collisions – or at least drastically reduce their number.
Collision mitigation technology uses a laser sensor at the top of the windscreen to detect if your car is likely to collide with another car or object ahead. If you don’t take action, the on-board computer does, by applying the brakes for you. At the least it can minimise the impact. At best, it can avoid an accident altogether.
While some cruise control systems on luxury cars already feature collision avoidance radar, these systems have to be turned on, don’t normally operate at speeds below 40km/h and can’t perform an ‘emergency brake’ – so they aren’t effective in reducing the most common type of crash.
In Australia, the Volvo XC60 is the first vehicle to offer the technology. But stay tuned. More and more makes and models should feature collision mitigation technology in coming years (see above).
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