New Study Shows Strong, Compounding Safety Benefits of Mazda's Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's, Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) finds that Mazda's advanced driver assistance technologies deliver significant and compounding crash reduction benefits as systems are bundled together and continuously updated.

HLDI's analysis of 2015–2023 Mazda vehicles examined six feature bundles and four stand-alone systems. The findings show that Mazda's investments in advanced safety engineering — including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane departure prevention, high beam assist, and available driver monitoring technologies — are helping to reduce insurance claim rates across multiple crash types.

"Safety is at the center of Mazda's vehicle development philosophy," said Jennifer Morrison, Director of Vehicle Safety Strategy, Mazda North American Operations. "This independent research underscores the value of our holistic, human centric approach to crash avoidance and the importance of making these technologies broadly accessible."

Bigger Bundles, Bigger Benefits

The most basic technology bundle included front automatic emergency braking with forward collision warning. The most comprehensive bundle added pedestrian detection, adaptive cruise control, high beam assist, lane departure warning and prevention, rear automatic emergency braking, and Mazda's Driver Attention Alert system.

Across the board, HLDI found that larger bundles — which also tend to include the latest generation of Mazda's technologies — produced greater reductions in crash related insurance claims.

• Basic bundle:
  13% reduction in property damage liability (PDL) claims
  9% reduction in bodily injury liability (BIL) claims
• Most comprehensive bundle:
  39% reduction in PDL claims
  21% reduction in BIL claims (not statistically significant)

Two technologies — front AEB with pedestrian detection and rear AEB — were associated with the most notable additional reductions. Updated AEB systems showed improved ability to prevent vehicle to vehicle crashes, while rear AEB proved especially effective in eliminating low speed parking lot collisions, which represent a large share of insurance claims.

Effective Stand-Alone Systems

Mazda's blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert delivered meaningful crash reduction benefits, including:

• Nearly 10% lower PDL claim frequency
• 13% lower BIL claim frequency

Other features such as curve adaptive headlights and head up display were also associated with modest reductions in crash claim frequency. Traffic Sign Recognition did not show clear benefits in this data set, which HLDI notes may be due to system limitations or the smaller number of vehicles equipped with the feature.

A Holistic Look at Losses

As with most advanced safety systems across the industry, some features were linked to increases in claim severity — often due to the cost of replacing modern sensors. However, when evaluating overall losses, which combine frequency and severity and most directly affect insurance costs, nearly all Mazda bundles and features were associated with lower total losses under PDL coverage. "Another important factor is that crash avoidance systems primarily eliminate crashes that occur at slower speeds," said Matt Moore, chief insurance operations officer at HLDI and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "That takes low-dollar claims out of the equation and skews the average cost upward."

Mazda's Commitment to Safety

Mazda's approach to safety is grounded in its long-standing Mazda Proactive Safety philosophy, which prioritizes technologies that support the driver, enhance situational awareness, and help mitigate harm before it can occur. These efforts build on Mazda vehicles' exceptional performance in independent safety evaluations, including winning eight 2026 IIHS TOP SAFETY PICK+ awards, more than any other brand, and being named by Consumer Reports as the Safest New Car Brand in its new Safety Verdict.

"As this independent analysis demonstrates, continual improvement of driver assistance technologies has real world impact," Morrison said. "We remain committed to advancing both the performance and availability of these systems in our pursuit of zero fatal crashes."

About Mazda North American Operations

Proudly founded in Hiroshima, Japan, Mazda has a history of sophisticated craftsmanship and innovation, and a purpose to enrich life-in-motion for those it serves. By putting humans at the center of everything it does, Mazda aspires to create uplifting experiences with our vehicles and for people. Mazda North American Operations is headquartered in Irvine, California, and oversees the sales, marketing, parts and customer service support of Mazda vehicles in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Colombia through approximately 795 dealers. Operations in Canada are managed by Mazda Canada Inc. in Richmond Hill, Ontario; operations in Mexico are managed by Mazda Motor de Mexico in Mexico City; and operations in Colombia are managed by Mazda de Colombia in Bogota, Colombia. For more information on Mazda vehicles, including photography and B-roll, please visit the online Mazda media center at news.mazdausa.com. 

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SOURCE Mazda North American Operations