US to require automatic emergency braking on new vehicles by Sept. 2029

WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard that will make automatic emergency braking, including pedestrian AEB, standard on all passenger cars, SUVs, and light trucks by September 2029.

This safety standard is expected to significantly reduce rear-end and pedestrian crashes and annually save at least 360 lives, prevent at least 24,000 injuries, and save more than $5 billion each year in property damages. The standard requires all new cars, starting in 2029, to include technology that can stop and avoid contact with a vehicle in front of them when traveling up to 62 miles per hour and to be able to 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. Some vehicles being sold today already offer this maturing technology as an add-on feature, but the new rule makes this life-saving technology standard and more effective.

The Biden-Harris Administration, safety stakeholders, and the general public know how urgent it is to improve safety on our nation’s roads. The standard fulfills a provision in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and advances the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy, which Secretary Buttigieg launched in January 2022 to address the national crisis in traffic fatalities and serious injuries.

“After years of skyrocketing traffic fatalities, NHTSA’s historic action on AEB is a true game changer. It will protect road users from crashes, including pedestrians who accounted for almost a fifth of all traffic fatalities in 2022. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety has been consistent, persistent and insistent for a decade pushing to get a comprehensive AEB safety standard. This rule is a major victory for all consumers and public safety,” Cathy Chase, President, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Cathy Chase said.

“As NSC and other roadway advocacy groups soon descend upon Capitol Hill during Infrastructure Week to meet with federal legislators on issues impacting pedestrians and other vulnerable road users, we applaud NHTSA for this AEB standard and hope to see this requirement extend to large trucks. NSC stands ready to continue working with employers, policymakers, government agencies and community leaders across public and private sectors to prioritize the safe mobility for all roadway users in the U.S.,” the National Safety Council said.

In a letter signed by members of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Board of Directors, which include Allstate Insurance Company, American Public Health Association, Amica Mutual Insurance Company, Center for Auto Safety, Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America, Kids and Car Safety, Liberty Mutual Insurance, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, NJM Insurance Group, Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research, Selective Insurance Company of America, State Farm Insurance Companies, and Trauma Foundation: “[We] extend our deep appreciation to the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for completing the rulemaking requiring automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection for light vehicles.

By NHTSA’s own estimation, this action will save hundreds of lives and billions of dollars annually. Realizing this milestone for roadway safety is especially gratifying as Advocates and other stakeholders, including numerous crash victims and survivors, have spent years during the legislative and administrative processes striving toward this goal.”

To read more about the new standard.