before a crash, even stop your car in the nick of time. sounds great, maybe. how well does it work? car safety group says they have the answers. cnn's rene marsh is live in washington with them. good morning, rene. >> reporter: good morning, chris. for that distracted driver it could help them avoid rear-ending someone and if you're cut off on the highway, if you're from new york, you know about that, manufacturers say it could help the driver avoid collision in that situation, too. one group put the in-car technology to the test and here are the results. they cause thousands in damage. serious injuries and even death. the insurance institute for highway safety says high-tech systems in new cars aimed at preventing or mitigating front-end crashes are, in fact, keeping drivers safer. >> keep your foot off the brake. keep your foot off the brake. did it stop you? >> yes, it did. >> reporter: it's called