--- title: "Existing Driver Assist Technologies Are Working Really Well, Actually" description: "Features like automatic emergency braking proved to be incredibly effective at preventing crashes and saving lives in a recent government study." date: "2022-11-15" modified: "2022-11-15" authors: - name: "Nico DeMattia" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/nico-demattia" url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/existing-driver-assist-technologies-are-working-really-well-actually" categories: - "Car Tech" - "News" - "Self-Driving Tech" --- # Existing Driver Assist Technologies Are Working Really Well, Actually ![]() Car companies continue fighting over who can roll out the best [automated driving]() technology. However, the advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) we already have are working pretty great. According to a study conducted by the Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Systems, the tech currently in use today is incredibly effective at avoiding crashes, reducing the damage of unavoidable collisions, and saving lives. ADAS packages help prevent crashes or mitigate the damage caused by them. Systems like automatic emergency braking (AEB), which signals the car to hit the brakes on its own if it determines it's going to crash otherwise, have proven highly effective. According to the PARTS study, when combined with frontal collision warnings (FCW), AEB systems reduced front-to-rear collisions by almost 50 percent. It's not just crash avoidance, either. Cars with AEB were able to also slow down drastically, even when a crash was unavoidable, which reduced serious injury by 53 percent. More importantly, these systems were proven to perform extremely well in bad weather or low visibility conditions, something that can't be said for the prototype self-driving equipment we've seen thus far. Other systems, such as lane departure warning and lane keep assist reduced single-vehicle road departure crashes by 8 percent and reduced injury from such crashes by 7 percent. ![]() The PARTS study of ADAS and how those systems can save lives is the largest joint study of safety systems between the government and automakers yet. It was pulled off by working with a short list of car manufacturers who provided PARTS with vehicle equipment data for 47 million cars from 2015-2020. PARTS then cross-referenced that data with 12 million police-recorded crashes from 13 states, given by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. At the time of the study, the automakers involved were General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Stellantis, and Subaru. Those brands hold a combined total of 65 percent of the car market. Now that Ford has joined the partnership, that market share grows to about 80 percent. As more and more automakers make these systems standard equipment, the safer our roads will be. Mazda, for example, now has FCW and AEB equipped across its entire vehicle lineup. While fully autonomous driving might one day make roads a safer place, that day certainly isn't now. Even the best automated driving assists available now, such as [GM's Super Cruise](), [Ford's BlueCruise](), and [Tesla's Autopilot](), require full-time driver attention while they're in operation. Plus, none of them are even close to true self-driving. However, the aforementioned advanced driver assistance functions, which act instead as helpful backups for the driver, have proven to consistently save lives by either preventing crashes or greatly reducing their damage. *Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: nico.demattia@thedrive.com* ## Author Nico is a writer and reviewer from New Jersey who probably thinks he’s a lot funnier than he actually is. His love of cars began when he was just a kid playing Gran Turismo 3, grinding out enough race wins with a Mazda Miata to save up for an in-game RUF 911. That passion for small, lightweight sports cars drove his desire to learn more about the industry, get his hands on as many cars as he could, and bring those experiences to life on the page. He cut his teeth writing about BMWs, Volkswagens, and Audis, mostly, and has owned far too many of each. He’s on his fourth 3 Series sedan, but all of his old, cheap German cars have forced him to learn more about car maintenance than his mechanical capability can handle. Too many late nights have been spent scrambling to get a car running by morning so he could get to work. For some reason, he never seems to learn that old Bimmers probably aren’t the best daily drivers. But he loves more than just old German cars. He’ll gladly drive and discuss anything with four (or even three) wheels. Cars aren’t his only passions, though. Nico is also a big nerd and loves movies, video games, comic books, and cares far too much about the New York Giants. So don’t be surprised if you see football references or dumb, obscure movie quotes in any of his car reviews. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()