New accident research from Bosch suggests that equipping heavy-duty trucks with advanced driver assistance systems that help keep vehicles in their lane may significantly reduce the costs of accidents influenced by heavy trucks.

In Bosch’s accident research, titled “Safety + Enhanced Driver Comfort: Steering in Commercial Vehicle ADAS Systems,” Bosch found that lateral actuator systems in Class 7 and 8 trucks can reduce the costs of accidents by up to 4 cents per mile, or $3,700 annually per heavy truck.

Lateral actuator systems are ADAS solutions that provide automated steering input for functions like lane change assist and lane-keeping support.

Bosch’s accident research reviewed public crash data to identify correlating statistics between vehicle types and the severity of crashes. This data was used to calculate a Field of Effect (FoE) for accidents involving large trucks. To calculate FoE, crashes were examined that could have been mitigated or avoided by using lateral actuator systems – more specifically, LCA and LKS.

Based on the accident research, the data also shows injuries from Class 7 and 8 truck crashes could be reduced by up to 23% and fatalities by up to 19% when they are the accident-triggering vehicle. Additionally, it is estimated that LCA and LKS could reduce the property damage from Class 7 and 8 trucks when they are the accident-triggering vehicle by up to 35%.

The KABCO injury scale, developed by the National Safety Council, provides a specific process to classify the costs of crashes. Using the KABCO scale and based on a driving distance of 100,000 miles per year – the Federal Highway Administration’s estimate for long-distance heavy trucks –the FoE was translated into dollars.

The research shows that even at an assumed 50% efficiency of the FoE, the savings from a lateral actuator system could total more than $9,000 per truck in five years.

“The full value when injuries or fatalities from vehicular accidents are avoided is ultimately incalculable,” said Kevin O’Keefe, regional president of automotive steering for Bosch in North America.

Corrected: Article updated at 6:15 p.m. EDT 3/22 to reflect that the system can save up to 4 cents per mile, not .04 cents.