Automated safety systems that are designed to prevent vehicles from drifting into a separate lane or to warn a driver about someone in their blind spot, could have the potential to reduce the number of vehicle crashes on the roads significantly, according to two studies recently released. Automated safety systems, are not yet required or present in all cars.

Information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, however, raises concerns about the fact that drivers may not pay as much attention if they become reliant on automated safety system or become distracted by a display on the dashboard that talks about how the systems are performing. The two institute studies identified that lane keeping systems and blind spot monitoring systems had lower crash rates when compared with vehicles that were not equipped with these systems.

The lane keeping study looked at crash data from the police from 25 separate states between 2009 and 2015 for vehicle models in which it was optional to upgrade to the safety system. Since only 40 fatal crashes were included in the research study, a simpler analysis was used that did not account for differences in the gender, ages, and insurance risk for the vehicle drivers. The technology, however, decreased the fatal crash rate for cars by 86%. If you are thinking about investing in automated safety systems inside your vehicle, it is important to remember that you still must remain vigilant behind the wheel in order to decrease your chances of a vehicle accident as effectively as possible.