Property and casualty insurer
Aviva Canada announced yesterday that drivers of vehicles that have Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) will get to enjoy a 15% discount on their auto insurance.
The discount will be available to all drivers insured by Aviva and applies to their policies automatically upon purchase or renewal. It will not, however, apply to coverage for damage incurred while not driving such as theft, vandalism, or damage that could not be mitigated by AEB systems.
AEB is an automotive safety feature that utilizes sensors to anticipate front-end collisions. Once the system detects the possibility of a front-end collision, it automatically applies the brakes to mitigate or even outright prevent impact.
“Automatic emergency braking is quickly becoming a key feature in preventing collisions and reducing their severity. This means less repair costs and more importantly, fewer injuries,” said
Aviva Canada executive vice-president of Broker Distribution Jason Storah. “It’s simple – our customers who choose vehicles with features that help prevent collisions, or reduce their impact, will pay less for their insurance coverage.”
The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety jointly announced in March that 20 automakers—representing over 99% of the US auto market—have committed to making automatic emergency braking a standard feature on all new cars by 2022.
Toyota was one of the first auto manufacturers to get on board with the initiative. The company was the first non-luxury brand to start making AEB standard equipment on most of their models in October.
“We applaud Aviva Canada for being the first Canadian auto insurer to reward drivers for adopting advanced safety features like AEB,” said Toyota Canada vice-president Stephen Beatty. “We feel that everybody deserves to benefit from advanced safety technologies and have already started including them on most models.”
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