US safety regulations will require better automatic braking
CNN
With distracted driving and pedestrian fatalities on the rise, auto industry regulators believe technology can prevent hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries each year.
With distracted driving and pedestrian fatalities on the rise, auto industry regulators believe technology can prevent hundreds of deaths and thousands of injuries each year. New rules from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will require improved automating braking systems on new cars sold in the United States by September, 2029. These new regulations will require the systems to automatically apply brakes and prevent crashes and pedestrian impacts at higher speeds than most current systems, and to work at night as well as during the day. Even though automatic emergency braking, or AEB, is already common on new vehicles sold in the US, these new requirements will save hundreds of lives per year, NHTSA officials said in a statement. AEB is standard equipment on a large majority of new vehicles sold thanks to a voluntary agreement most automakers signed in 2016. Currently, AEB is used mostly to prevent rear-end collisions, a very common type of crash. Vehicles with AEB use sensors such as radar, sonar, or cameras to detect when a vehicle ahead has slowed or stopped, or if there is an obstacle in the road. If the driver fails to respond in time or with enough braking force, AEB systems apply the brakes automatically.