The Biden administration plans to require all new cars and trucks to be equipped with pedestrian collision avoidance systems, including automatic emergency braking technology, by the end of this decade.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an interview that the requirement is aimed at reducing pedestrian deaths, which are on the rise in the post-COVID-19 era.
“So many Americans [are] “We believe we have a responsibility to make this technology standard across America's fleet,” Buttigieg said.
The new standards will require all cars to avoid collisions at speeds below 100mph and be able to detect pedestrians in the dark. It also has to brake at speeds up to 45 mph if it detects a pedestrian.
The Department of Transportation estimates the rule will save 360 lives and prevent 24,000 injuries annually.
Automatic emergency braking “prevents crashes. And crashes kill people. It's that simple,” Buttigieg said.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an industry group representing automakers, said in a statement that it had not seen the new rules and could not comment directly.
The paper said technologies such as automatic emergency braking have proven to be “game-changing” and automakers are voluntarily pledging to include them in new cars.
Drivers will kill more than 7,500 pedestrians in 2022, the most since 1981, and the number of deaths has nearly doubled over the past decade, according to the Governor's Highway Safety Association.
Pedestrian death rates are also higher than pre-pandemic levels, at 2.2 deaths per billion vehicle miles driven, but began to decline in the first half of 2023.
Research has found that speeding and other dangerous driving behaviors have increased since the coronavirus pandemic, while public transport use has fallen and road deaths have increased.
Additionally, the pandemic has delayed sales of new vehicles that are safer and equipped with the latest accident prevention technology.
At the same time, more consumers are purchasing light trucks, including SUVs, which tend to be less safe.
JD Power survey data shows that consumers are showing some resistance to proposed must-have technologies.
“Drivers are reporting a number of issues with devices activating when they shouldn't,” said Kathleen Rizk, J.D. Power's senior director of user experience benchmarking and technology. She also realizes that some people are too sensitive or don't react the same way, she says.
“There is a perception that they are losing control,” Risk said, referring to the technological interventions built into modern passenger cars.
Buttigieg acknowledged that the technology is still in its infancy, which is one reason the requirement won't go into effect until the end of 2029.
“We're giving the technology a few years to improve,” he said, adding that hiccups in some examples of safety features may not be helpful.
“We need to ensure that these technologies are refined and developed,” he said.
Buttigieg estimated that the requirement would add $82 to the price of a new car, a price he said is well worth it considering the lives saved.
“If there is a technology that could save so many lives…we don't want it.” [it] “We want it to be available only to people who can afford to buy it as an accessory. We want to make sure every car that comes off the line has this feature,” he said. said.
