Drivers face 'automatic' brakes being installed on UK cars

Cars could be fitted with automatic brakes to reduce accidents on UK roads
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Cars could be fitted with automatic brakes to help reduce accidents on UK roads. 70 per cent of urban road deaths involve pedestrians, cyclists, or motorcyclists and one-third of accidents between trucks and pedestrians or cyclists could be avoided with existing technology.

Allianz called for better protection for pedestrians and cyclists in cities and made concrete demands to politicians, car manufacturers, and fleet operators. Considering the persistently high number of road deaths in Europe, Klaus-Peter Roehler, member of the Board of Allianz SE, called for improved safety equipment, especially for vans and trucks, at the Allianz Center for Technology (AZT) in Ismaning.

Klaus-Peter Roehler, a board member of Allianz SE, stressed the urgent need for better safety equipment, particularly for vans and trucks. He said: "We’re seeing rapid progress in almost all areas of technology, so why are we failing to better protect life on the roads? This is an unacceptable trajectory.

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"One-third of all accidents between trucks and pedestrians or between trucks and cyclists could be avoided if trucks utilized just two well-known safety measures. To tackle the challenges and trends I’ve mentioned, vehicle manufacturers, politicians, freight carriers – and we as insurers – are called to action.

"We must simply do everything we can to protect a human life from accidental death, whatever the cost is.” Klaus-Peter Roehler stresses that the number of road deaths in the European Union is still far too high, at around 20,400 in 2023.

He saidL “The European Commission has declared that by 2050 the number of road deaths in Europe is to be reduced to zero.” Unfortunately, we are still a long way from this “Vision Zero.”

“Cities are the main hotspots for accidents,” says Roehler. “Around 40% of fatal road accidents in Europe occur in cities; 70% of these victims are riding bicycles or other two-wheeled vehicles, or are pedestrians, including children and the elderly – they need better protection!

"The headline of this 12th Allianz Motor Day – ‘Big vs. Small’ – sounds bitter but it’s true. It’s about protecting the most vulnerable people from heavy vehicles.”