
Motor Trend's writer Arthur St. Antoine was recently rear-ended while driving a BMW 335d. You can read his full account of the accident by clicking here. The important takeaway from the event, besides the crash worthiness of modern cars, is that when it comes to proactive safety you can never take your eyes off the road or your rear-view mirror. St. Antoine was fiddling with the radio while waiting at a stop light when a Jetta driver smacked into him at an estimated 30 MPH.
Luxury cars, such as Volvo's XC60, are starting to offer collision avoidance technology that can actively slow down, or even stop at slower speeds, the vehicle if it detects an impending crash. Both drivers involved in this accident would probably agree that innovations like this are tremendously important and cannot trickle down to all makes and models soon enough.
Sadly, it is too much to assume that other drivers are actively paying attention to what is going on around them. In this case, both drivers were able to drive away, albeit with stiff necks, and hopefully a renewed sense of awareness.