WASHINGTON, D.C. – A lobbying group representing most major American automobile manufacturers is pleading with the Biden Administration to reconsider a new mandate it imposed in April that decrees that – starting in September of 2029 – all new cars and trucks sold in the United States will be required to have automatic emergency braking systems installed, saying that the technology simply doesn’t exist yet to support the “impractical and costly” rule.
The required systems will utilize sensors that automatically cause the vehicle they are installed in to break to avoid a collision if the driver fails to do so. But while the automotive industry already began incorporating some form of Automatic Emergency Breaking (AEB) systems in 2016, the new federal mandate is considerably stricter as to what is expected.
As per the Biden Admin, all “light vehicles” – defined as cars, large pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles – will be required to have systems that will enable the vehicles they are installed in to automatically break to avoid hitting other vehicles or pedestrians while traveling at speeds of up to 62 miles per hour. Beyond that, the system will also be required to at least attempt to brake to avoid a collision at speeds of up to 90 miles per hour. The system would also be required to work both during daylight and in darkness.
The rule, as per the admin, is to strive to prevent countless deaths and injuries every year.
This week, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation (AAI) sent letters to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and members of the House of Representatives, saying that the automotive industry’s input while the rule was being drawn up was ignored and that the auto-breaking mandate would be “practically impossible with available technology.”
Here’s what I (regrettably) conclude will happen,” said AAI president and CEO, John Bozzella. “Driving AEB equipped vehicles in the U.S. under NHTSA’s new standard will become unpredictable, erratic and will frustrate or flummox drivers.”
Bozzella went on to note that fully automatic braking would likely cause vehicles to suddenly stop “far in advance of what a typical driver and others on the road would expect,” and could lead to a significant rise in rear-end collisions. In addition, it would make the cost of buying cars with the tech installed even more expensive – with vehicle prices already at record highs – due to the additional hardware and software required.
Current AEB systems have proven to be not very effective when it comes to preventing accidents, according to studies; T-bones and left-turn crashes – which account for approximately 40 percent of all crashes from which fatalities arise – are almost never prevented by AEB, and most of these systems are considered almost completely worthless in nighttime conditions.
Christopher Boyle is an investigative journalist, videographer, reporter and writer for SEARCHEN NETWORKS® as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Christopher works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.