IIHS: GM's autobrake tech slashes serious rear-end collisions

The technology brought a 64 percent reduction in front-to-rear crashes with injuries.

General Motors' automatic emergency braking technology has achieved significant reductions in rear-end collisions, according to an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study.

GM vehicles equipped with both autobrake and forward collision warning had 43 percent fewer police-reported front-to-rear crashes of all severities, and 64 percent fewer front-to-rear accidents with injuries. Data was compared against the same models that were not equipped with any front crash prevention technology.

For vehicles equipped with just forward collision warning, the crash rates reductions were 17 percent for all front-to-rear accidents and 30 percent fewer incidents with injuries.

"The results echo an earlier IIHS study involving Acura, Fiat Chrysler, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru and Volvo vehicles, which found that the combination of forward collision warning and autobrake reduced front-to-rear crash rates by 50 percent for crashes of all severities and 56 percent for front-to-rear crashes with injuries," the organization said.

The latest study looked at 2013-2015 Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC models, along with detailed crash reporting from 23 states.

The IIHS is presumably highlighting the numbers to pressure automakers to accelerate wider rollout of automatic braking. A group of 20 automakers has voluntarily agreed to make automatic emergency braking standard on most new cars within four years.