Accords with forward collision warning drew fewer claims as they aged

What happened

Honda fitted forward collision warning and lane departure warning as standard on several trims of the 2013-15 Accord and Accord Crosstour. Both use one camera behind the windshield to warn of a likely collision ahead or of drifting from the lane. In a bulletin of April 2020, the Highway Loss Data Institute asked whether the benefits persist as cars age. Its regression compared claims for Accords with and without the warnings and controlled for driver, vehicle and location factors. Equipped Accords had fewer collision, property damage liability and bodily injury liability claims at every vehicle age. All reductions were statistically significant except collision claims for cars 5 years old and older. Property damage liability claims were 10 to 13 percent lower, with smaller reductions for older cars. HLDI found no clear evidence that the benefits fade over time. It noted that this reduction had been 14 percent in its 2014 study and 11 percent in 2019. HLDI could not tell whether the warnings were on in a crash, and buyers of equipped trims may differ from other buyers.