WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A recent study conducted by AAA found technology designed to help cars back up more safely is beneficial however, not every time.

There have been more than 36,000 crashes in Massachusetts from 2018-22 where a vehicle was backing up before a collision, according to the MassDOT IMPACT Crash Data Portal. Of that total, 13 people died and over 2,200 were injured. 

AAA says that approximately 30% of new cars are equipped with reverse automatic emergency braking (AEB), where the car’s brakes are automatically activated when it detects a potential collision behind the car.

Research was conducted by AAA to better understand how the technology performs. They tested new vehicles that have reverse AEB systems to see if it stopped the vehicle before it backed up into an object or person, or got struck from the side by a vehicle.

They tested a vehicle backing out of a parking space into a “7-year-old pedestrian target,” the vehicle applied the automatic brakes 75% of the time and prevented a collision in 50% of tests. 

Another scenario tested cross traffic when backing out of a parking space. The automatic brakes were applied 65% of tests and prevented a collision in 2.5% of tests. 

Their results indicated that crashes with children and cross traffic are still a risk despite technology. “Our tests show that reverse automatic emergency braking has clear benefits,” said Mark Schieldrop, Senior Spokesperson for AAA Northeast. “But it’s no substitute for an attentive driver.” 

The following tips were provided by AAA to help keep everyone safe when backing up a vehicle:

• Stay engaged: Drivers should not rely solely on reverse AEB to prevent collisions, but use backup cameras and their own two eyes to enhance their awareness of their surroundings. Check behind and around your vehicle before you get in the car. 
• Back up slowly: Drivers should back up cautiously when their side vision is obstructed and allow the technology to “see” past the obstruction to detect cross traffic, giving the system more time to apply the brakes and prevent a collision. 
• Pull through: If possible, pull through a space in a parking lot so that you can exit the spot moving forward.