The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been fairly sporadic with its announcements about autonomous vehicles, but they’ve recently taken a step to ensure all future cars on the road have at least a few advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
On Thursday, the DoT, in conjunction with the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS), announced 20 major car makers will be making automatic emergency braking a standard feature on all new cars before September 1, 2022.
These 20 auto giants, which include Audi, BMW, FCA US LLC, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kia, Maserati, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubushi, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota, VW, and Volvo, represent 99 percent of the U.S. auto market.
The automatic emergency braking systems use sensor systems including radar, cameras, or lasers to warn the driver if they need to brake. If the driver takes no action, or is too slow to brake, the car will take over and brake for the driver. The technology might not mean the accident won’t happen, but it might make the accident–and the injuries–less severe.
The IIHS estimates that having car companies agree to this action, instead of trying to come up with a regulation to require it, cuts three years off the timeline of getting this technology onto the road. In that time, the technology will prevent 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries. This is obviously the main takeaway, but it also means less congestion and traffic from accidents that could have been avoided.
While this technology is available in high-end cars, it’s important that the safety technology is available to all people, regardless of if they’re buying a Porsche or a Ford.
With roadway fatalities on the rise, the commitment made today has the potential to save more lives than almost anything else we can accomplish in the next six years,” said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council, in a press release. “Including all models in the agreement ensures that safety isn’t for just those who can afford it.”
As an added bonus, they’ll be looking into how the system (and other ADAS) could (and should) affect insurance rates, including lower rates for people who select cars with ADAS. Given that studies show the technology can reduce injury insurance claims by 35 percent, it’s easy to see how the insurance companies would be supporting the idea.
The catalyst for the change was a meeting that took place last year when only 10 companies–about 57 percent of the industry–had committed to the project, but a final push has almost all of the big players on board.
The technology will appear on regular cars and trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 lbs. or less. Larger trucks, up to 10,000 lbs, will have to have the systems added by 2025. In order for any cars to receive a ‘Top Safety Pick’ from IIHS, it must have an automatic braking system.
