It's official. The U.S. federal government will require new passenger cars and light trucks to come equipped with Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) by 2029, if they're not already.
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently finalized a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that will make automatic emergency braking (AEB) standard on all passenger cars and light trucks by September 2029. (NOTE: The rule gives small-volume manufacturers, final-stage manufacturers, and alterers until Sept. 1, 2030 to become compliant.) The rule also mandates the systems be able to detect pedestrians in both daylight and at night.
U.S. safety regulators say this standard is expected to significantly reduce rear-end and pedestrian crashes. NHSTA also says making this feature standard, instead of a luxury, is part of the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy to address the crisis of deaths on our roads.
It's important to note that many vehicle manufacturers already include standard AEB as part of their safety features. NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) worked together to broker a 2016 commitment by 20 manufacturers to equip virtually all their light-duty cars and trucks with AEB that prevents front-into-rear collisions with other vehicles by the production year that began on Sept. 1, 2022. As of December 2023, IIHS reported that all 20 had equipped at least 95% of vehicles with AEB.
In a statement, the IIHS says it welcomes the new final rule, but laments the delayed 5-year timeline for compliance.
"We applaud the new regulation, which will ensure that all passenger vehicles come with robust AEB systems that can operate at high speeds and detect pedestrians in both daylight and dark conditions. That’s something we specifically asked NHTSA to require after our research showed that existing pedestrian AEB systems weren’t performing well in the dark,” IIHS-HLDI President David Harkey said.
“However, we are disappointed that NHTSA has given the industry five years from now to meet the new requirement, as we believe it would be feasible for manufacturers to comply far sooner. In the interim, IIHS will continue working to ensure these systems recognize motorcycles, heavy trucks and bicycles in addition to passenger vehicles and pedestrians, which could save an additional 1,000 lives each year.”
NHTSA says it projects that this new standard, FMVSS No. 127, will save at least 360 lives a year and prevent at least 24,000 injuries annually. AEB systems use sensors to detect when a vehicle is close to crashing into a vehicle or pedestrian in front and automatically applies the brakes if the driver has not. Pedestrian AEB technology will detect a pedestrian in both daylight and in darker conditions at night. This will significantly reduce injury or property damage and associated costs from these crashes.
“The new vehicle safety standards we finalized today will save hundreds of lives and prevent tens of thousands of injuries every year,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is not only making historic investments in transportation, it’s also ushering in a new era of safer travel by ensuring new cars and light trucks are equipped with automatic emergency braking, making our roads safer for drivers and pedestrians alike.”
“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. 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,” said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman. “Most new vehicles already come with AEB, and we expect that many cars and light trucks will be able to meet this standard ahead of the deadline, meaning even more lives will be saved thanks to this technology.”
The new standard requires all cars 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 requires that the system apply the brakes automatically up to 90 mph when a collision with a lead vehicle is imminent, and up to 45 mph when a pedestrian is detected.
The standard fulfills a provision in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to establish minimum performance standards requiring that all passenger vehicles be equipped with AEB. This standard also advances the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, which was launched in January 2022 to address the national crisis in traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The National Roadway Safety Strategy adopts the safe system approach and builds multiple layers of protection with safer roads, safer people, safer vehicles, safer speeds and better post-crash care. As part of the safe system approach, this new vehicle safety standard highlights safer vehicles and USDOT’s effort to expand vehicle systems and features to help prevent crashes.
This final rule applies to nearly all U.S. light vehicles (gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less). A Final Regulatory Impact Analysis that presents the benefits and costs associated with the standard is included in the Final Rule. information on the rulemaking process is available at Transportation.gov.
Watch a video demonstrating Automatic Emergency Braking below or click here.
In June 2023, NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced a separate notice of proposed rulemaking that would require heavy vehicles, including tractor trailers, to have AEB, which the agencies are in the process of finalizing.
Photo Credit: IIHS.