Gadgetory

in everyday driving nothing is more fundamental to avoiding a collision than stopping before you have one but too often humans are well human and don't brake in time or at all that's where forward collision avoidance technology comes in and ideally appears in cars we really buy not just as a pricey option on pricey ones the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has been watching forward collision technology come down to earth in three flavors there's the warning warning you of a forward collision pre charging the brakes before a collision to increase their effectiveness when you do get on them if it detects a high risk of impact the system will prime the brakes to help you stop more quickly and automatic braking so the car will pull itself partially or fully to a stop even if you drop the ball and there's the auto brake vehicle stop by itself just two years ago nearly three-quarters of new cars didn't offer any kind of forward collision tech just two model years later the number lacking it is down to under half though just four percent of models offer it standard of a variety of cars that offer this tech ten models from Acura BMW Mazda and Chrysler earned a superior rating with five or six out of six points a separate study by the highway loss data Institute found that two models of Volvo's from 2010 to 2012 with automatic braking had insurance claim rates that were 15 to 16 percent lower and the latest Volvo's offer the first automatic braking that will intervene if you're about to make a very ill-advised left turn against traffic it pays to double check if your next car offers forward collision tech what if any degree of self braking it includes and how well the whole system is rated to actually work it's a fundamental feature that could pay for itself pretty easily the first time you don't rear-end someone more realities of modern driving revealed now at CNET on cars comm click on smarter driving