In the not-too-distant future, all new passenger cars in the United States will come standard with automatic emergency braking, a requirement the government says will save hundreds of lives and prevent thousands of injuries each year. .
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released the final version of the new regulations on Monday, calling it the most important safety rule in the last 20 years.
It is designed to prevent many rear-end and pedestrian collisions and reduce traffic fatalities by approximately 40,000 a year.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an interview that “we are overcoming the crisis of traffic fatalities.” “So we need to do something about it.”
This is the government’s first attempt to regulate self-driving features, and will likely help curb some of them. Problems that surfaced Equipped with driver assistance and fully automated driving systems.
Currently, approximately 90% of new cars are equipped with automatic braking as standard equipment through voluntary agreements with automakers, but as there are currently no performance requirements, some systems may not be as effective.
The new regulations set standards for vehicles to automatically stop, even at night, to avoid collisions with other vehicles or pedestrians.
“Part of how we turn the corner from the unacceptable levels of traffic deaths that we’ve lived with our entire lives is by leveraging these technologies,” Buttigieg, 42, said. We certainly set high performance standards. ”
The regulations are expected to take more than five years to take effect because they require additional engineering to harden the software and, in some cases, add hardware such as radar.
This will give automakers time to enhance the system during normal model update cycles, NHTSA said.
Prices are also rising, with NHTSA estimating $354 million annually in 2020, or $82 per vehicle. But Buttigieg said it would save 362 lives a year, prevent about 24,000 injuries and reduce billions of dollars in property damage.
Critics say the standards should have been enacted sooner and do not seem to require the system to spot people riding bicycles, scooters or other vulnerable groups.
The new rules require all passenger cars weighing 10,000 pounds or less to be equipped with forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, and pedestrian detection braking.
The standard requires vehicles to stop at speeds of 102 mph or less to avoid collisions with vehicles in front of them. It must also brake automatically at speeds up to 90 mph if a collision with the vehicle ahead is imminent.
The system must also recognize pedestrians day and night, and must stop and avoid pedestrians at speeds of 31 to 40 mph, depending on the pedestrian’s location and movement.
According to the agency, approximately 2.2 million rear-end collisions were reported to police nationwide in 2019, resulting in 1,798 deaths and 574,000 injuries. 60% of fatal rear-end crashes and 73% of injury crashes occurred on roads with speed limits of 60 mph or less.
In addition, 6,272 pedestrians were killed in collisions, 65% of which were caused by front-end collisions with cars.
The agency said the majority of deaths, injuries and property damage occurred at speeds above 25 mph, which are not covered by the voluntary agreement.
“Only regulations can ensure that all vehicles are equipped with AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) that meets minimum performance requirements,” the regulation states.
NHTSA will conduct random inspections to determine whether automakers meet the standards.
The agency said it does not mandate what types of sensors each automaker must install to meet the requirements. That’s up to the car manufacturer. However, after testing 17 vehicles, only a 2023 Toyota Corolla equipped with cameras and radar met the criteria.
According to the regulations, about 5% of the system would need to have radar added to meet the requirements.
Kathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, said the new standards will make it clear to car buyers that AEB works properly. He said most consumers are unaware that there is currently no requirement.
“Generally speaking, it’s better to have AEB than not have AEB,” she said. “So once the AEB rule goes into effect, the federal government will once again be doing its job and protecting consumers.”
NHTSA said I changed my first suggestionThis gives automakers more than five years to meet the standards, instead of three. Chase said shorter is better.
“The shorter the schedule, the more people we save, the faster we can get into our cars, and the safer our roads are for everyone,” she said.
Ms Chase said she was not satisfied that the regulations did not appear to include standards for people using bicycles or scooters.
