A new study says that safety features such as automatic emergency braking and forward collision warnings could prevent more than 40% of crashes in which semis rear-end other vehicles. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety also found that when crashes happen, the systems cut the speeds by 50%, reducing damage and injuries.
The institute is a research group supported by auto insurers. It called on the federal government to require the systems on new large trucks and said many truck fleet operators are already adding emergency braking on their own.
The study found that trucks with collision warning systems reduced rear crashes by 44%, while automatic emergency braking cut rear crashes by 41%.
