Lane Departure Warnings, Blind Spot Alerts (Probably) Reducing Crashes: Study

Lane departure alerts and blind spot monitoring systems can significantly reduce crashes if consumers use the features, according to two recent studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. While this information falls into the no-brainer category, rarely do we get specific metrics on these particular technologies.

“This is the first evidence that lane departure warning is working to prevent crashes of passenger vehicles on U.S. roads,” explained Jessica Cicchino, IIHS vice president for research. “Given the large number of fatal crashes that involve unintentional lane departures, technology aimed at preventing them has the potential to save a lot of lives.”

One reason there isn’t a lot of data on the effectiveness of the technologies is because it’s so difficult to quantify accidents that don’t take place.

Mixing up correlation and causation is a pitfall researchers perpetually have to avoid. The evidence of things not seen is inherently troublesome and the IIHS study may suffer from a bit of the old “magic rock” fallacy. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, The Simpsons tackled it in 1996 when Lisa alleges the town’s expensive Bear Patrol may have nothing to do with why there are no bears.

However, while we should keep this in mind as we examine the stats, it isn’t meant to undercut the inherent usefulness of lane departure or blind-spot alerts. Some warning is always better than no warning at all when you’re absent minded behind the wheel.

Using previous studies and data from police-reported crashes, the IIHS concluded that systems that warn drivers when they’re beginning to drift out of their lane reduce injuries by 21 percent and total collisions by 11 percent. Cicchino believes the technologies could have prevented nearly 85,000 crashes and 55,000 injuries in 2015, had they been installed on all vehicles at the time.

Similarly, IIHS found blind-spot detection systems cut the chances of lane-changing crash injuries by 23 percent and total accidents by 14 percent. However, a 2015 study of lane departure warnings in U.S. truck fleets found the technology cut the rate of relevant crashes nearly in half, and an analysis by Volvo cars in Sweden found a reduction of relevant injury crashes of 53 percent.

While particularly alert drivers probably have a less-than-dire need for such systems, they are useful. A little light that tells you when a car might be just behind your rear fender is indeed a handy item. Likewise, everyone can benefit from lane departure warnings after a few brain-dull hours spent on the expressway.

Research from the Highway Loss Data Institute backs up the IIHS claims, suggesting the injury rate could be lessened by up to 86 percent. However, the IIHS claims the HLDI hasn’t uncovered direct benefits in the form of lower claim rates from lane departure warnings — primarily because lane departure is typically bundled in with other safety systems that could skew the data.

In the most recent IIHS study, Cicchino included vehicles with optional lane departure warning from six manufacturers: General Motors, Honda, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, and Volvo. Automakers provided information about the presence of optional features on specific vehicles (via vehicle identification numbers) and researchers used 2009 through 2015 crash data from states that provided VINs of the cars involved, making it possible to identify the vehicles and determine if they had lane departure warning systems or not.

You can make up your own mind as to how accurate the estimates are. In the meantime, both institutes feel that implementing the safety features on more vehicles would save lives and significantly reduce accident rates. “Most of these kinds of technologies started out being optional equipment on the highest trim level on the most luxury vehicles. It’s starting to filter down more but it still hasn’t filtered down all the way,” Cicchino said.

Cost is the largest factor, according to a the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. “While the industry is proud of these innovations, and eager to see customers embrace these advancements, it’s important that consumers be able to decide how best to spend their safety dollars on these technologies,” an AAM spokesperson said in a statement. “Determining which features are right for their families is a decision best left for consumers.”

[Image: Ford Motor Co.]