Crash-avoidance braking to be standard by 2022
- Created: 05.10.2016
Twenty major automakers pledged to equip cars and trucks with automatic emergency-braking systems designed to detect and prevent crashes without driver action.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the pledged companies will be “mak[ing] automatic emergency braking a standard feature on all new cars no later than 2022.”
The U.S. Transportation Department and the insurance industry have been in talks since last year on voluntary commitments that would cover most new models. Automatic emergency braking systems use radar or other sensors to detect an imminent crash and, if needed, engage the brakes to avoid or minimize the impact of a rear-end collision.
The systems are designed to respond quicker than human reflexes in a crash situation. Human error is responsible for 94 percent of all traffic crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Karl Brauer, senior analyst with Kelley Blue Book, said automakers will need to roll out a host of other autonomous-driving features in their fleets in the coming years to stay competitive.
“The incremental cost of adding these high-tech driver aids is dropping every year, which is good for automakers because consumers are quickly coming to expect them, even on lower-prices models,” Brauer said.