On April 29, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that will require automatic emergency braking (AEB), including pedestrian protection, to be standard on all cars and light trucks by September 2029. According to NHTSA's calculations, requiring the technology would save at least 360 lives a year and prevent at least 24,000 injuries.
Fortunately, automakers are well on their way to making these features standard.
“Automatic emergency braking is proven to save lives and reduce serious injuries from frontal crashes, and this technology is now mature enough to require it in all new cars and light trucks. In fact, this technology is now so advanced that we’re requiring these systems to be even more effective at higher speeds and to detect pedestrians,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman. “Most new vehicles already come with AEB, and we expect that many cars and light trucks will be able to meet this standard ahead of the deadline, meaning even more lives will be saved thanks to this technology.”
The new standard requires all cars be able to stop and avoid contact with a vehicle in front of them up to 62 miles per hour and that the systems must detect pedestrians in both daylight and darkness. In addition, the standard requires that the system apply the brakes automatically up to 90 mph when a collision with a lead vehicle is imminent, and up to 45 mph when a pedestrian is detected.
The standard fulfills a provision in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to establish minimum performance standards requiring that all passenger vehicles be equipped with AEB. This standard also advances the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, which was launched in January 2022 to address the national crisis in traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The National Roadway Safety Strategy adopts the safe system approach and builds multiple layers of protection with safer roads, safer people, safer vehicles, safer speeds and better post-crash care. As part of the safe system approach, this new vehicle safety standard highlights safer vehicles and USDOT’s effort to expand vehicle systems and features to help prevent crashes.
Source: NHTSA