About 30,000 people are killed each year on U.S. highways, and a study commissioned by an industry group says that figure could be reduced by about a third.
DETROIT, MI - About 33,000 people are killed each year on U.S. highways, and a study commissioned by an industry group says that figure could be reduced by about a third.
The way to prevent some 10,000 car crash deaths is by greater adoption of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS, the study says.
Features such as lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, forward collision alert and advanced braking are considered ADAS.
And they're all seen as integral parts of reducing accidents on U.S. roadways, according to the study by The Boston Consulting Group, and commissioned by the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association.
Many of the ADAS features found in some 2015 model vehicles were either non-existent in 2010 or in just about 1 to 4 percent of vehicles. But that has since risen to just about 2-7 percent.
"There is technology today that can address the issue" of motor vehicle deaths, Steve Handschuh, president and CEO of MEMA, said at a meeting with media Tuesday morning in Troy. "...but adoption is where the challenge is."
Car accidents in the U.S. cost Americans about $910 billion annually, or about six percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
While also reducing traffic accident deaths by about 30 percent, wider adoption of ADAS could also knock $250 billion off the annual cost to Americans, the group's study says.
The National Safety Council says vehicle crashes are expected to rise 14 percent in the U.S. next year, with a growing number of drivers on the road as gas prices are lower and the economy gets stronger.
But if getting more ADAS in cars and trucks in the U.S. is a solution - one which would benefit MEMA's members while also saving lives and money for the average American - the route to putting more of them in Americans' cars is no so clear-cut.
For one, there is the classic chicken-and-egg dilemma of economics: The ADAS currently in cars are fairly pricey, adding about $8,240 on average for each vehicle.
At the same time, suppliers have not reached economies of scale with many of the parts used in ADAS, so they are pricier to produce, too.
Some of the ways MEMA envisions solving this is with an update to the U.S. New Car Assessment Program, which currently in its 5-star rating system does not look at safety assist technologies.
Consumers could also receive incentives to buy new cars with ADAS features, with breaks from insurance companies or tax credits from the government, for example.
The government could encourage automakers to put ADAS features more widely in their products, similar to the way CAFE credits currently regulate vehicle fuel economy.
Car dealerships could educate buyers more on the existing ADAS features on their lots.
"It really is going to take something more than, look at how cool and neat this (technology) is," Handschuh said. "It's really going to take some drivers."
David Muller is the automotive and business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com, follow him on Twitter or find him on Facebook.