Vehicles equipped with Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) systems are 40% less likely to be involved in rear-end crashes, new data has found.

The research by the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) in the US found that systems with automatic braking reduce rear-end crashes by about 40% on average, while forward collision warning alone cuts them by 23%. The autobrake systems also greatly reduce injury crashes.

The IIHS research comes on the back of research carried out by Euro NCAP and ANCAP, the independent safety bodies for Europe and Australasia, which showed a 38% overall reduction in real-world, rear-end crashes for vehicles fitted with low speed AEB compared to a sample of equivalent vehicles with no AEB.

“The success of front crash prevention represents a big step toward safer roads,” said David Zuby, IIHS chief research officer. “As this technology becomes more widespread, we can expect to see noticeably fewer rear-end crashes. The same goes for the whiplash injuries that often result from these crashes and can cause a lot of pain and lost productivity.”