By the end of the decade, new cars and trucks in the United States will be required to have automatic emergency braking systems that can save hundreds of lives each year.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which announced the requirement Monday, called it the most important safety rule in two decades. This is an important milestone. But why did it take so long? This technology has been available for years, although it is often sold as a luxury feature.
Most automakers voluntarily include some form of automatic braking on new models, but capabilities may vary. The regulation makes the technology mandatory by 2029 and sets a minimum standard that all cars must be able to stop and avoid contact with the vehicle in front of them when traveling up to 62 miles per hour.
Automakers have been slower to install automatic brakes designed specifically to detect and avoid pedestrians, a problem because pedestrian fatalities have increased in recent years. The regulation will require vehicles to be able to avoid hitting pedestrians when traveling up to 40 mph and detect pedestrians in the dark, which is when more than three-quarters of those deaths occur.
Since the 1980s, the number of people killed each year in car accidents in the United States has decreased, thanks in part to safety requirements such as seat belts and air bags. That decline in deaths plateaued a decade ago, and traffic deaths spiked in 2020 and 2021. Experts attribute the increase to an increase in speeding and reckless and distracted driving.
Automatic braking is expected to prevent about 360 deaths a year, a small but necessary drop. In 2023, there were 41,000 vehicle deaths.
While humans deserve the blame for dangerous driving, there is growing recognition that engineering and technology, from cars to roads, can prevent accidents and reduce the likelihood of serious injury and death when they occur.
Automatic braking is great, but it's just a safety feature. The federal government should be much more aggressive in promoting and demanding others; limiting heavier and taller pickup trucks and SUVs that take longer to brake and hit harder; and reduce dependence on dashboard touch screens that force drivers to take their eyes off the road.
Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended (does not have the power to require) that all new cars have systems to alert drivers when they speed. These systems are required for new cars sold in the European Union from July.
California State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) proposed this year requiring technology that automatically reduces drivers' speeds, but his bill was revised to require a speeding warning instead.
There is no reason for Americans to tolerate 41,000 traffic deaths a year. Most are preventable, and there are tools and design features available to make vehicles safer for everyone on the road. We just have to demand them.
