The American Automobile Association (AAA) has conducted a study showing that automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems are reasonably good at preventing low-speed rear-end collisions, but often fail when vehicles are moving at medium speeds.

Beginning in September 2022, all new vehicles sold in the US must be equipped with the AEB system, which uses forward facing cameras and various sensors to automatically apply the brakes when a crash is imminent. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety estimates that AEB could help prevent 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries by 2025.



Using four conventional vehicles, AAA wanted to test AEB to see how much it had progressed since it was first introduced on production vehicles nearly 20 years ago. The results weren't all that great.



The group selected four vehicles for testing, all of which were equipped with driver assistance systems including AEB:

1. Chevrolet Equinox LT 2022;
2. Ford Explorer XLT 2022;
3. Honda CR-V Touring 2022;
4. Toyota RAV4 LE 2022.

For years, AEB had proven useful in reducing low-speed collisions, but AAA wanted to see how well it worked in two of the more common and deadly crash scenarios: crashes at T-junctions and turning left in front of oncoming vehicles.



From 2016 to 2020, these two crash types accounted for nearly 40% of total two-car fatalities in the US.

The results were quite disappointing in both types of tests: AEB failed to prevent 100% of the accidents staged by AAA. The system also failed to warn the driver and slow down the vehicle.

In rear crash tests, the AEB performed better, provided the speed was low. At a speed of 48 km / h, the system prevented 17 out of 20 collisions, or 85%. But at a speed of 64 km / h, the AEB system prevented only six out of 20 rear-end collisions, or 30%.