Auto industry pleads with Biden administration to ‘reconsider’ automatic braking rule

The car industry’s main lobbying radical is requesting the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “reconsider” its recent rule requiring each vehicles sold successful the US to person robust automatic exigency braking (AEB), calling the existent exertion insufficient to conscionable the precocious standards outlined by the government.

In letters sent to NHTSA arsenic good arsenic members of Congress, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents astir of the large automakers, argues that the rules finalized earlier this twelvemonth are “practically intolerable with disposable technology.” The radical claims that the car industry’s suggestions were rejected during the rulemaking process. And it’s requesting that regulators reconsider respective cardinal aspects successful bid to marque it much achievable by the people day of 2029.

“Here’s what I (regrettably) reason volition happen,” the alliance’s president and CEO, John Bozzella, writes successful the missive to Congress, “driving AEB equipped vehicles successful the U.S. nether NHTSA’s caller modular volition go unpredictable, erratic and volition frustrate oregon flummox drivers.”

Last April, the US Department of Transportation finalized the regularisation requiring each conveyance manufacturers to see automatic exigency braking successful their sedans, SUVs, and pickup trucks by 2029. The caller regularisation aims to forestall hundreds of deaths and tens of thousands of injuries each year.

Under the rule, each vehicles are present required to beryllium capable to “stop and debar contact” with vehicles up of them up to 62mph. In addition, AEB systems indispensable use the brakes automatically “up to 90 mph erstwhile a collision with a pb conveyance is imminent, and up to 45 mph erstwhile a pedestrian is detected.” Vehicles indispensable besides beryllium capable to observe pedestrians successful some daylight and darkness.

The lone problem, according to Bozzella, is that practically nary car connected the roadworthy contiguous tin conscionable those standards. He notes that NHTSA’s ain investigating information revealed that lone 1 conveyance met the stopping region requirements successful the last rule.

If the regularisation is allowed to spell into effect, cars that observe objects successful the roadworthy volition automatically use the brakes “far successful beforehand of what a emblematic operator and others connected the roadworthy would expect,” which could summation the likelihood of rear-end collisions. And vehicles volition go much costly arsenic they volition present beryllium required to instal “necessary and costly hardware and bundle changes.”

Indeed, existent AEB systems are proven to beryllium little than effectual astatine preventing collisions. AAA has been investigating AEB systems for years and recovered a assortment of communal scenarios successful which the braking technology completely fails to bash the occupation arsenic advertised.

Likewise, autonomous vehicles from companies similar Waymo are frequently rear-ended by quality drivers acknowledgment to their much blimpish attack to braking for objects and pedestrians successful the road.

When they were archetypal announced, information advocates praised NHTSA, arguing that the caller rules would forestall deadly crashes and support susceptible roadworthy users similar pedestrians. Even portion lamenting the agelong hold successful implementation, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety called the caller rule “a measurement guardant for safety.”