Automakers have committed to making automatic emergency braking a standard feature on new cars and light trucks within the next seven years.
Automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems help prevent crashes or reduce their severity by applying the brakes for the driver. The systems use on-vehicle sensors such as radar, cameras or lasers to detect an imminent crash, warn the driver and apply the brakes if the driver does not take sufficient action quickly enough.
It will become standard on heavier trucks three years later.
The commitment will make AEB standard on virtually all light-duty cars and trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 lbs. or less beginning no later than September 2022. AEB will be standard on virtually all trucks with a gross vehicle weight between 8,501 lbs. and 10,000 lbs. beginning no later than September 2025.
The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety announced Thursday that 20 automakers representing more than 99 percent of the U.S. auto market have agreed to make automatic emergency braking a standard feature on virtually all new cars no later than 2022.
Automakers making the commitment are Audi, BMW, FCA US LLC, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi Motors, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Tesla Motors Inc., Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo Car USA. NHTSA said the unprecedented voluntary deal means that this important safety technology will be available to more consumers and more quickly than would be possible through the regulatory process.
NHTSA estimates that the agreement will make AEB standard on new cars three years faster than could be achieved through the formal regulatory process. This will prevent 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries, according to IIHS estimates.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called it "A win for safety and a win for consumers."
Based on mounting evidence that AEB effectively reduced crashes and injuries in the U.S. and around the world, NHTSA and IIHS issued a challenge to industry in September 2015 to encourage automakers to voluntarily make AEB a standard feature. A series of meetings followed to establish details of the commitment.
"With roadway fatalities on the rise, the commitment made today has the potential to save more lives than almost anything else we can accomplish in the next six years," said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council.
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