Should automatic braking be standard in new vehicles?

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Car manufacturers are being urged to fit automatic braking as standard after it was revealed only two per cent of car buyers are choosing to take it as an option.

The shocking figure comes following a recent report by Euro NCAP which found that autonomous braking systems were to thank for a 38 per cent reduction in real-word rear-end crashes in Europe.

Despite that, a mere 17 per cent of UK cars feature the braking technology as standard.

The call for manufacturers to focus on fitting automatic braking as standard is coming from many industry experts, including Thatcham Research, the UK's only NCAP accredited research centre.

Matthew Avery, director of insurance research, at Thatcham said: "Typically, most car buyers are not interested directly in safety systems.

"Most believe all cars to be safe and several surveys have said car buyers are not prepared to pay extra for safety.

"Also, many dealers don't understand what the systems do and often don't have the ability to demonstrate them."

"We would like to see less optional and more standard, as we know optional take-up is only around two per cent. So while the cars are capable of having an AEB system, the manufacturer decides not to make it standard."

According to the report, insurance data from black box recorders suggests that three quarters of collisions occur at below 20mph in the UK.

It's suggested that automatic braking could help cut down on the number of accidents caused by speeding and would also have an impact on lowering insurance premiums.