Cars with automatic emergency braking have 50% fewer rear-end crashes and 56% fewer injury crashes.

Hunter’s Fund was created to prevent the kind of tragedy that took Hunter’s life, and to help young people make smarter choices behind the wheel. Now, a new generation of “smart” cars is helping make that vision a reality.

Modern vehicles, especially newer electric models, are packed with Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS)that can see danger before drivers do. Features like automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, and blind-spot monitoring work quietly in the background to prevent the crashes that end so many young lives.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that cars with automatic emergency braking have 50% fewer rear-end crashes and 56% fewer injury crashes. In addition, vehicles equipped with pedestrian automatic emergency braking have 27% fewer pedestrian crashes and 30% fewer pedestrian injury crashes, showing that these systems don’t just protect drivers, they protect the people around them.

Although effectiveness decreases at night without street lighting, when most fatal pedestrian crashes occur, the potential to save lives is already significant.

Because most new electric vehicles include these technologies as standard equipment, each one on the road isn’t just reducing emissions - it’s helping prevent another tragedy. As these safer cars replace older models, experts predict they could save tens of thousands of lives every year.

At Hunter’s Fund, we believe technology alone isn’t the answer, but it can be part of it. The future of safe driving will depend on smarter cars and smarter choices.

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), 2023