The National Transportation Safety Board says while collision avoidance technology is being adopted by industry, the government should do more to encourage it.

The Safety Board first reported in 1995 that collision-avoidance technology in the form of Intelligent Transportation Systems can prevent rear-end collisions. The board recommended that the U.S. Department of Transportation sponsor fleet testing of these systems for commercial trucks. Two years ago, the board classified the recommendation "Closed-Unacceptable Action" due to inaction by the DOT.
About the same time, the board held a public hearing in the summer of 1999 focusing on advanced safety technologies for commercial vehicles. At the hearing, representatives for Eaton Vorad, U.S. Xpress, Greyhound and others testified that private industry is beginning to adopt vehicle-based collision avoidance systems. The collision warning system and adaptive cruise control tied into the system are available as an option on trucks produced by all major manufacturers in the United States. Some luxury automakers are offering them, as well.
After the public hearing, the DOT finally started tests of collision warning systems and adaptive cruise control for both cars and trucks, says the NTSB.
"The work being done by private industry and the government is encouraging, but the pace of testing and of standards development for all vehicles and of deployment for commercial vehicles is cause for concern, given the increasing number of rear-end collisions and the number of fatalities when commercial vehicles are involved," said the NTSB in a report released this month.
The board says in the past two years, it has investigated nine rear-end collisions in which 20 people died and 181 were injured. Rear-end collisions account for almost one-third of all crashes and nearly 12 percent of multivehicle fatal crashes. An extra second of warning time, provided by collision warning systems, can prevent about 90 percent of rear-end collisions, according to the board.
Because of this, and what the board feels is slow action on the part of the DOT, the safety board announced is again addressing subjects related to ITS, both vehicle- and infrastructure-based, for the prevention of rear-end collisions.
NTSB is an advisory agency and cannot make regulations; it can only make recommendations to government agencies, industry groups and others involved in safety issues.