Every new car sold in the United States will be equipped with an automatic emergency braking (AEB) system by 2029 after all. Carmakers opposed the rule shortly after it was announced, but the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shrugged off the complaints.
Finalized in April 2024, the law gives mainstream carmakers until 2029 to install an AEB system in every passenger car and truck sold new. The system needs to be able to automatically bring the car to a stop to avoid a collision at up to 62 mph. It also has to brake to avoid a collision with a pedestrian at up to 45 mph, and brake to avoid a collision with another car (or at least mitigate the impact) at up to 90 mph. None of this is new: numerous cars are already available with AEB, which relies on an armada of sensors and cameras to scope out the road and react appropriately.
AEB has been mandatory in Europe since 2022, yet the Alliance for Automotive Innovation told the NHTSA it can’t be done in the United States. The trade group, which represents carmakers including General Motors and Volkswagen, says it isn’t against AEB; it’s against the law’s speed thresholds.
“That’s practically impossible with available technology,” the group’s president and CEO, John Bozzella, argued in a letter addressed to lawmakers in June 2024. “At higher driving speeds, NHTSA’s stringent requirements will result in AEB-equipped vehicles automatically applying the brakes far in advance of what a typical driver and others on the road would expect. This will likely contribute to an increase in the number of rear-end collisions,” Bozzella’s letter added. The group also believes the NHTSA “vastly underestimated” the cost of implementing such an advanced AEB system, which will get passed on to consumers.
Rather than scrapping the law altogether, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation suggests looking for guidance across the pond.
“We recommended NHTSA adopt a standard already in place in Europe that detects a potential forward collision, provides a driver warning, and automatically engages the braking system to avoid a collision—or mitigate its severity—through the use of existing crashworthiness systems designed to better protect road users,” it wrote in the letter. NHTSA officials seemingly received it, read it, shrugged, and said “tough luck, guys.”
The agency, which claims its standards can save at least 360 lives a year and prevent at least 24,000 injuries annually, said it’s not changing its mind, according to Reuters. It plans to clarify “some technical requirements” in the not-too-distant future, though it hasn’t revealed what those are.
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