Data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) shows that current AEB systems can reduce rear-end collisions by 50 percent. But many current AEB systems only work at low speeds, and IIHS and AAA tests show that pedestrian AEB often fails to prevent crashes at night, even though most fatal crashes occur at higher speeds and many pedestrian accidents occur in the dark. If the new rules come into effect, the AEB will be tested in a variety of scenarios designed to represent common real-world accidents, such as hitting stationary and moving vehicles, to ensure compliance.
NHTSA estimates that the new, more stringent performance standards required by the proposed rule would save an additional 362 lives and prevent 24,321 more injuries each year.
Even at speeds higher than those targeted by NHTSA, AEB can still save lives and reduce injuries, says Ann Carlson, NHTSA’s chief counsel. “We could change a high-speed crash from a fatal one to a low-speed crash with only minor injuries or only property damage,” he said.
The proposal will soon be open for public comment for 60 days, after which NHTSA plans to issue a final rule. Many of the requirements would take effect within three years of the publication of the final rule.
Based on initial testing, NHTSA says automakers will be able to meet the new requirements with existing technology, and in some cases, vehicles will only need new software.
The agency estimates that adding the technology as part of a design change will cost automakers about $82 per vehicle to install, but that the benefits to the public, such as reduced fatalities in accidents, it will be between $5.24 billion and $6.52 billion over the life of the rule.
However, new technology is only part of the safety equation, says David Harkey, president of the IIHS.
“With people keeping their cars longer, it will be several decades before at least 90 percent of vehicles on the road are equipped with AEB for pedestrians,” he says. “We also need states and local jurisdictions to act quickly to improve pedestrian infrastructure and reduce vehicle speeds, which can pay safety dividends much faster.”
Wallace says the new AEB rule is the first major vehicle safety rule NHTSA has proposed in at least six years. “This rule is required under the 2021 Infrastructure Act, and it is not the only rule that NHTSA must develop under this act,” he says. “We expect this to be the first of several strong proposals that we will see coming soon.”
