Assessment of the Potential of a Front Brake Light to Prevent Crashes and Mitigate the Consequences of Crashes at Junctions

Safe vehicles are an important pillar in reducing the number of accidents or mitigating the consequences of a collision. Although the number of autonomous safety systems in vehicles is increasing, retrofitted systems could also help reduce road accidents. A new retrofit assistance system called Front Brake Light (FBL) helps the driver to assess the intentions of other road users. This system is mounted at the front of the vehicle and works similarly to the rear brake lights. The objective of this study is to evaluate the safety performance of an FBL in real accidents at junctions. Depending on the type of accident, between 7.5% and 17.0% of the accidents analysed can be prevented. A further 9.0% to 25.5% could be positively influenced by the FBL; i.e., the collision speed could be reduced. If the FBLs were visible to the driver of the priority vehicle, the number of potentially avoidable accidents would increase to a magnitude of 11.5% to 26.2%. The range of accidents in which the consequences can be reduced increases to between 13.8% and 39.2%.