NHTSA Proposes Automatic Emergency Braking Standards | NHTSA

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would require automatic emergency braking and pedestrian AEB systems on passenger cars and light trucks. The proposed rule is expected to dramatically reduce crashes associated with pedestrians and rear-end crashes.   

NHTSA projects that this proposed rule, if finalized, would save at least 360 lives a year and reduce injuries by at least 24,000 annually. In addition, these AEB systems would result in significant reductions in property damage caused by rear-end crashes. Many crashes would be avoided altogether, while others would be less destructive. . . .

the proposal would require pedestrian AEB, including requiring that AEB recognize and avoid pedestrians at night,” NHTSA Chief Counsel Ann Carlson said. “This proposed rule is a major safety advancement.” . . .

The Department’s other roadway safety actions include:

* Produced the Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment to guide states on required 2023 assessments.
* Issued the Complete Streets Report to Congress: “Moving to a Complete Streets Design Model.”
* Issued a final rule on rear impact guards.
* Advanced the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices rulemaking effort, analyzing and resolving the more than 25,000 public comments.
* Published an Advance Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking concerning speed limiters with a motor carrier-based approach.
* Made significant progress to advance pedestrian automatic emergency braking rulemaking.
* Issued a Standing General Order to collect more data about crashes that occur when automated driving systems and advanced driver assistance systems are engaged.  

Link: 

NHTSA Proposes Automatic Emergency Braking Standards | NHTSA

"Traffic deaths had been declining until about a decade ago, when they began rising rapidly. The rise has been driven by a spike in pedestrian deaths. An estimated 3,500 pedestrians were killed in the first half of 2022, the most recent period for which data is available. That is the highest number in 40 years. . . .

Automatic emergency braking systems typically use cameras, radar or both to spot vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists and other obstacles. By comparing a vehicle’s speed and direction with those of other vehicles or people, these systems can determine that a collision is imminent, alert the driver through an alarm and activate the brakes if the driver fails to do so.

The first such systems were introduced in 2011. Five years later, automakers voluntarily agreed to make automatic emergency braking technology standard in all new cars and trucks by 2022."

Automakers have made AEB standard in all cars. However, the standards for AEB have not been high. In particular, the emphasis was on car vs car collisions, and testing and standards did not include specific requirements to detect and stop for people who walk and bicycle.

Since about 2015, MoBikeFed has been working with a coalition of bicycle and pedestrian groups from across the U.S. working to encourage NHTSA to include specific tests for the effectiveness of AEB in improving safety for people who bicycle and walk.

Such standards have been in place in some parts of the world for many years, but they have not been in place in the U.S.

The requirements passed in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and now being implemented by NHTSA are some of the fruits of that years-long national effort.

Note also the related bicycle and pedestrian safety and access initiatives now being moved forward by NHTSA as a result of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law:

* Produced the Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment to guide states on required 2023 assessments.

* Issued the Complete Streets Report to Congress: “Moving to a Complete Streets Design Model.”

* Advanced the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices rulemaking effort, analyzing and resolving the more than 25,000 public comments.

* Made significant progress to advance pedestrian automatic emergency braking rulemaking.

* Issued a Standing General Order to collect more data about crashes that occur when automated driving systems and advanced driver assistance systems are engaged.

As we attend regular meetings with Missouri's congressional delegation, working with likeminded organizations from across the state and the nation, it often seems like we are making little progress from month to month or year to year.

But many of the priorities we have been working on for more than a decade now were finally incorporated into the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and are now being implemented.

Your support for our advocacy work over the years - along with the support of thousands of like-minded citizens from across Missouri and the U.S. - have helped make these safety advancements a reality.