NHTSA To Require Automatic Emergency Brakes On Light Vehicles By 2029

(RTTNews) - The U.S. traffic safety regulator has released a new federal safety regulation, requiring automatic emergency braking or AEB, including pedestrian AEB, systems standard on all light vehicles by 2029. AEB systems automatically apply the vehicle brakes in crash imminent situations if the driver has not done so.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA's final rule adopts a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard, which applies to all passenger cars and to all multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 kilograms or less.

With the move, the agency aims to reduce the number of deaths and injuries that result from crashes in which drivers do not apply the brakes or fail to apply sufficient braking power to avoid or mitigate a crash, and to reduce the consequences of such crashes.

Compliance date for the new rule is September 1, 2029. However, vehicles produced by small-volume manufacturers, final-stage manufacturers, and alterers must be equipped with a compliant AEB system by September 1, 2030.

The final rule advances Department of Transportation or DOT's January 2022 National Roadway Safety Strategy that identified a requirement for AEB, including PAEB technologies, on new passenger vehicles as a key Departmental action to improve vehicle and pedestrian safety.

According to the federal agency, an AEB system uses various sensor technologies and sub-systems to detect when the vehicle is in a crash imminent situation, to automatically apply the vehicle brakes if the driver has not done so, or to apply more braking force to supplement the driver's braking.

The final rule specifies that an AEB system must detect and react to an imminent crash with both a lead vehicle and a pedestrian.