In case you haven't noticed, the auto industry is on a mission to cut the number of front-end collisions with automatic braking systems that activate the front brakes much faster than humans. The hope is to avoid accidents or lessen the impact if an accident occurs. These new systems use costly front-mounted radar sensors (which often serve double duty for automatic cruise control) and a camera mounted in the windshield to keep track of lane lines (often used by lane departure warning systems as well).
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These automatic emergency braking systems can be found as a standard feature on more new luxury vehicles and are becoming a popular option or standard feature on most of the top-of-the-line half-ton pickup trucks like the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Country, 2019 Ford F-150 Limited, and now the 2019 Ram 1500 Limited and Laramie Longhorn.
Since the sensors for these systems are usually located in the grille or front bumpers, repairs can be quite expensive in the event of an accident. Ford and GM have integrated their sensors and cameras into one module and moved them to the back of the rearview mirror in their half-ton pickups and now, with the introduction of the 2019 Ram 1500 (and 2019 Jeep Wrangler), Ram parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is going that way, too.
Combining these two safety features into a single unit reduces repair costs in the event of a crash and also allows vehicle designers to create more appealing front ends and improve aerodynamics for cooling the engine. Since this new strategy is being used for the redesigned Wrangler and Ram 1500, we're guessing the all-new will sport the same technology when it debuts at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show Wednesday — but we'll have to wait and see.
As technology like this becomes more popular and less expensive, it will begin to trickle down into more mid- and lower-level trim levels. As that happens we hope to see the number of front-end crash crashes decrease dramatically.
Cars.com photos by Christian Lantry
