Advanced driver-assistance systems, or ADAS, can provide drivers in Texas with many safety benefits. Using cameras and sensors, these systems can watch for oncoming vehicles and pedestrians, alert drivers to a collision and, with the automatic emergency braking feature, brake in the driver’s place if the driver does not react fast enough.
Besides collision warning, pedestrian detection and cross-traffic alert, ADAS features include adaptive cruise control, which maintains a safe distance from other vehicles, and lane departure warning, which prevents drivers from drifting out of their lane. There’s also the blind-spot detection feature, which can reduce the crash involvement rate by 14% according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
In general, vehicles with ADAS see 27% fewer bodily injury claims and 19% fewer property damage claims. If every light-duty vehicle fleet incorporated ADAS, then there could be $264 billion worth of accidents prevented according to a researcher from Carnegie Mellon University. However, there are some disadvantages.
The first is cost. Sensors and cameras are costly to replace, and the average repair bill for an ADAS-equipped vehicle can be twice that of an unequipped vehicle. For this reason, there’s little hope of insurers providing discounts for ADAS. Secondly, the tech is still flawed; for example, it might apply the brakes after incorrectly judging that a car was coming toward it.
Those who are injured in car accidents may wonder if they have grounds for a personal injury claim. The situation may be complicated by the fact that they or the other driver had ADAS features on. For this and other reasons, it may be a good idea to retain legal counsel. Everything starts with a case evaluation. If hired, the lawyer might bring in third parties to investigate the crash and medical experts to determine the extent of victims’ injuries.
