Toronto, Ontario — The United States Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) has finalized a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) to make automatic emergency braking (AEB) standard on all passenger vehicles and light trucks by September, 2029.
The NHTSA’s new FMVSS will also regulate pedestrian AEB in vehicles, aiding in the detection of pedestrians by future vehicles to avoid fatal impacts.
As stated in a recent NHTSA report, the “NHTSA projects that this new standard, FMVSS No. 127, will save at least 360 lives a year and prevent at least 24,000 injuries annually.”
These numbers are mainly attributed to AEB’s ability to use sensors to detect when a vehicle is close to crashing into another vehicle or pedestrian and automatically apply braking systems.
The new standard will require all vehicles to 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 will require that the “system apply the brakes automatically up to 90 miles per hour when a collision with a lead vehicle is imminent, and up to 45 miles per hour when a pedestrian is detected.”
“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,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman.
“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,” Shulman further explained.
To see the full Final Regulatory Impact Analysis as well as further information about the new standard, click here.
