Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) pushed the button that will soon make automatic emergency braking a requirement for many new vehicles. Cars and “light trucks”—those under 10,000 pounds—will soon have to have the braking system as they roll off the assembly line.
NHTSA sent its rule off to the Office of Management and Budget last Thursday, January 18. Once the OMB reviews it, the final rule will be published in the Federal Register, probably in April. After that, vehicle manufacturers are on notice. Automatic emergency braking will be required three years after the rule is published. That means that 2027 will see the mandated rollout. But what will automatic emergency braking (AEB) mean for you?
360 lives saved, 24,000 injuries reduced
For the “herd,” NHTSA says AEB is projected to save 360 or more lives per year in the U.S. The agency also projects that vehicle-related injuries should be reduced by some 24,000. Already, 90% of passenger vehicles coming off assembly lines have AEB, this on a voluntary basis.
What’s AEB supposed to do? The system is designed to detect objects in the way and stop or slow a vehicle. AEB should prevent a crash or make it less severe. Under the brass tacks of the proposed rule, if a driver doesn’t react if their vehicle is traveling up to 50 mph and an accident is imminent, AEB should kick in and hit the brakes. If a driver is braking but not enough to stop a collision, the AEB should prevent a strike at up to 62 mph.
“With this proposal,” said Ann Carlson, NHTSA’s chief counsel, “we could change a high-speed crash from a deadly one to a lower-speed crash with minor injuries or just property damage.” Saving pedestrians is another objective. Under the rule, all cars would be required to stop and avoid hitting a pedestrian at up to 37 mph.
Automatic emergency braking concerns
While a reduction in fatalities and injuries is certainly laudable, there are those with concerns. How much will the AEB enhancements tack on to the cost of the updated vehicles? Non-profit consumer organization Consumer Reports weighed in on the subject.
William Wallace, the group’s associate director of safety policy, feels the proposed rule is good for safety. He doesn’t see it being a budget buster. “NHTSA is setting a high bar for safety, and using the tools at its disposal to get the auto industry to protect as many people as possible,” he said. He also pointed out that other vehicle safety directives haven’t added much to vehicle cost—when prices are adjusted for inflation.
But what about potential “false alarms”? Something that could cause an AEB system to slam on the brakes when no real problem lies ahead? NHTSA has already investigated such problems with models produced by Honda, Tesla, and big rig manufacturer Freightliner. NHTSA says the new regulation has been designed to reduce what it calls “false braking.”
Unless an issue turns up on the OMB review, automatic emergency braking systems look to be a mandated reality not far down the road.
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My 2023 Mazda CX30 already had this feature and I find it works just fine. It can be irritating when over taking slower vehicles and one of them decides to also move into the passing lane. My vehicle then slows down to allow a safe distance between vehicles. When the safe distance is attained then my vehicle resumes its set speed. I do like it.
Please excuse the errors…I hate this auto spell stuff Furstenberg, no that should be distance.
Could not remove post. Also article rating should be 5 stars.
Thanks, Nels. When I’m moderating comments if I see an obvious error I’ll correct it, for ease of reading. But that “Furstenberg” threw me, since it was so far off from “distance.” I’ve corrected it, but I’m leaving your second comment (that this replies to) in for the rest of your info. BTW, I thought these comments were set up so that the commenter could go back in and correct something, at least for a certain amount of time. I’ll check with our IT dude, Kim, about that. Have a good afternoon/evening. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
I generally find that I can edit my comments, Diane. Good luck to you and Kim in finding and fixing Nels’ problem editing. 🙂
Thanks for your input, Neal.👍 Have a good night. 😀 –Diane
Just like rear cameras were made standard, this should also be. I think that front facing cameras should also be standard along with front and rear presence sensors. With all the SUV’s and trucks being sold, a driver may not be able to see a small child or animal in front of the vehicle. Since vehicle prices have not dropped to pre pandemic prices, let the auto companies absorb the cost.
Automarkes will not absorb the cost. A government by and for the people decided through their elected and appointed officials that this will be the law of land for the people who purchase new cars. Business does not absorb those kind of costs mandated by the people’s government. And while new cars may have this automatic braking, drivers may have no control over it particularly on slick roads or black ice, vehicles without such systems to include semi trucks, may not stop as quickly and crash into the rear of an automatically braked vehicle. Still, it is a good idea for those cars driven by drivers who tailgate another vehicles.
Sorry Bob, Split Shaft is right. It is simply a bad business model to not charge the consumer for the addition of mandatory equipment upgrades. The cost will be passed on to you I’m afraid.
Given that everything except Fentanyl is up 20% average the past 3 years, no chance autos will ever get back down to 2019 prepandemic prices. Wishful thinking.
You’re right. We should remove seatbelts too, no need for any safety equipment.
DW would whole heartedly agree with you.
I realize you are ‘tongue in cheeking’ it here, Snayte. But I see your point – I think.
Pretty big leap Snayte. I like the AEB in all my vehicles that have it so I’m not sure how you make a jump to me to being pro seatbelt removal. All I said was that the cost for it will be paid for by the consumer. Oh yeah, and a little color I guess. Triggered you huh?
With automatic braking you(I) cannot tailgate, I have a ‘22 Toyota Camry with it and it will not let me get closer than a safe stopping distance.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! This could be a good idea, but I doubt that it is close to being ready for “prime time.” Our 2016 Grand Cherokee has this sort of thing associated with backing. I tried to make a U-turn in our driveway. The problem was the automatic braking thought the tall weeds along the driveway was something solid (green jersey wall?) and kept hard braking when I tried to back over the weeds. Thankfully, it is something that can be disabled, which I did. I’m not all that keen on the “improvements” in new cars — e.g., the A in a circle that shuts off the engine during stops, which I deactivate as soon as I start my car. 🙂
My wife’s Kia has automatic braking. One day I was slowing down and was close to a vehicle in front. I would have safely stopped without hitting the vehicle. The Kia locked up the brakes. Wonder if when towing a RV if it would disable the AEB, What would happen if the system locked up because of a system error. Having had and have a new vehicle. There are issues with the computer and electronics doing things it’s not suppose to happen.
In conjunction with your and Neal’s comment below, I disabled the active cruise control on our 2019 JEEP Grand Cherokee which I understand also is part of the AEB using the same foward camera. This was for fear that the JEEP would lock up the brakes while towing behind the pusher. I have not had an issue with it but it does cross my mind occasionally while rolling down the road occasionally checking the rear camera for smoke and fire.
A small caveat is that the ignition in the Grand Cherokee is off when towing so I doubt any issue would come up. The ignition does not need to be on in that model for free steering.
New technology is always challenging. It does get better and more cost effective. $400 VCRs for example evolving to a $50 DVD player. I wish the car that ran down and killed my daughter had this feature. The cost is insignificant compared to a life.
So very sorry about your daughter, Cate. How devastating. Take care.🤗 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Before automatic braking I would like to see 360 degree cameras similar to what Tesla has.
For the person that thinks vehicle manufacturers should absorb the cost… Ya sure like that will ever happen.
I support auto braking but think it should be a personal choice if you want it. Safety features are good items. Insurance companies should give a discount if you have safety features but I think car companies and the government should not force you to buy a bunch of options you do not want. A simple base model car has more features than a luxury car had a few years ago and people are forced to buy.
2020 Subaru Ascent with tow package- AEB forward and backwards. So far, so good. The only annoyance is when backing our 21′ single axle TT and I need to make adjustments. Each time I go into reverse, I have to touch and hold for several seconds, the on-screen ‘button’ to disable the reverse braking (and alarm). Shifting out of reverse for more than a couple seconds automatically turns the system back on. And if I have an unknowledgeable spotter, I have to explain why I am just sitting in reverse for those seemingly unnecessary seconds.
My biggest concern with all this technological ‘goodness’ is how the computer determines if the road surface is wet, icy, snowy or black icy. All of these conditions require different approaches to braking. Just as with self-driving trucks, I think the dream is there, but the technology hasn’t quite caught up. I will stick to my “I’m in control” truck as long as I can.
Me, too. All this digital monitoring and control stuff WILL fail at some point. I’m opposed to anything that makes the driver think he is less than 100% in control of the vehicle, and, therefore, 100% responsible for the results. Additionally, it will be abused, both by lazy operators, and by over-reaching authorities. Think about that last one. Do you want to operate your vehicle only with Big Brother’s consent?
While new vehicles with AEB will be reacting to what their cameras see ahead they won’t be avoiding nonAEB vehicles from slamming into their rear ends when they begin their autonomous maneuvers. This will be problematic for 20 to 30 years until older vehicles disappear. The NTSB like the new tech is too busy looking ahead to see the dangers lurking from behind.