NTSB Calls for Collision Prevention Features on All Vehicles

June 9, 2015—U.S. safety officials have asked automakers to begin including collision avoidance systems in all new passenger and commercial vehicles, according to a report made by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

In its 63-page report, the NTSB said that rear-end collisions account for roughly 1,700 deaths and half a million injuries annually. Eighty percent of these accidents could be prevented if vehicles had collision avoidance systems installed, the report said.

The NTSB wants the collision avoidance systems included as a standard feature in new vehicles.

"Currently available forward collision avoidance technologies for passenger and commercial vehicles still show clear benefits that could reduce rear-end crash fatalities. However, more must be done to speed up deployment of these technologies in all vehicle types," the NTSB report said.

The NTSB said that only four out of 684 vehicle models in 2014 included a complete forward collision avoidance system as a standard feature. The systems are often made as an add-on option, making these vehicles more expensive.

The NTSB called on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to include performance ratings for collision avoidance systems in its safety evaluations of new automobile designs. The NHTSA welcomed these recommendations and said that it has taken a number of steps towards promoting advanced safety technologies, including addition of automatic emergency braking as a performance measure for new designs for cars.