Automatic Emergency Braking With Pedestrian Detection to Become Mandatory on All New Cars
The new rule will save hundreds of lives and prevent tens of thousands of injuries each year, according to federal regulators
In an effort to address rising roadway injuries and fatalities, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that all new cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks must come with effective automatic emergency braking (AEB) technology by 2029. It’s a move that Consumer Reports has been advocating for years and that NHTSA estimates will save at least 360 lives and prevent at least 24,000 injuries each year.
NHTSA finalized a new federal motor vehicle safety standard at the end of April that will require new passenger vehicles to be able to fully avoid a crash with a vehicle in front of them by September 2029. According to the new standard, vehicles must be able to avoid a crash at speeds of up to 62 mph and brake at speeds of up to 90 mph when a crash is imminent. It also requires vehicles to avoid a crash with a pedestrian at speeds of up to 45 mph, including in darkness.
Making a Lifesaving Technology Even Better
Data from IIHS shows that today’s AEB systems can cut rear-end collisions by 50 percent. But many current AEB systems only work at low speeds, and testing from IIHS and AAA shows that pedestrian AEB often fails to prevent crashes at night, even though most fatal crashes take place at higher speeds and many pedestrian crashes happen after dark. When the new rules go into effect, AEB will be tested in a variety of scenarios designed to represent common real-world crashes, including hitting both stopped and moving vehicles, to ensure compliance.
“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,” NHTSA’s Deputy Administrator, Sophie Shulman, said in a statement. “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.”
But new technology is just one part of the safety equation, according to David Harkey, president of IIHS.
“With people keeping their cars longer, it will be several decades before at least 90 percent of vehicles on the road are equipped with pedestrian AEB,” he said in 2023 before the new rule was finalized. “We also need states and local jurisdictions to act quickly to improve pedestrian infrastructure and lower vehicle speeds, which can pay safety dividends much faster.”