US to require automatic braking on new cars

What happened

All new passenger vehicles must come equipped with automatic emergency braking by 2029, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday. Some 90% of new vehicles already have AEB systems under a voluntary 2016 agreement but the new final NHTSA rule sets minimum standards, including automatically braking to avoid hitting other vehicles or pedestrians, night or day.

Who said what

"We're living through a crisis in roadway deaths," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told The Associated Press. AEB "is proven to save lives" and the "technology is now mature enough to require it in all new cars and light trucks," said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman.

The commentary

The U.S. government's "first attempt to regulate automated driving functions" will save 362 lives a year and billions in property damage, the AP said, citing NHTSA estimates, but "it will also drive up prices" by between $23 and $82 per vehicle.

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What next?

The NHTSA, nudged in the 2021 infrastructure law to deploy new technology to tackle road deaths, is also exploring requiring nascent technology to block drunken driving.