US rejects bid to rethink new automobile automatic emergency braking rules
Adds automakers alliance statement in paragraph 5
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Nov 25 (Reuters) -The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Monday it will not reconsider a landmark rule finalized in April requiring nearly all new cars and trucks by 2029 to have advanced automatic emergency braking systems.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, representing General Motors GM.N, Toyota Motor 7203.T, Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE and other automakers, had said the requirement that all cars and trucks must be able to stop and avoid striking vehicles in front of them at up to 62 miles per hour (100 kph) is "practically impossible with available technology" and had asked the agency to reconsider it.
NHTSA on Monday rejected the request but said it was clarifying some technical requirements and correcting an error in the test scenario for an obstructed pedestrian crossing the road.
The new safety rule is one of the most far-reaching U.S. auto safety regulations in recent years. NHTSA said in April the rule will save at least 360 lives annually and prevent at least 24,000 injuries as traffic deaths spiked after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Alliance CEO John Bozzella called the decision "wrong on the merits. Wrong on the science. Really a disastrous decision by the nation’s top traffic safety regulator that will endlessly – and unnecessarily – frustrate drivers; will make vehicles more expensive and at the end of the day ... won’t really improve driver or pedestrian safety."
Bozzella wrote to President-elect Donald Trump urging him to reconsider the regulation.
Congress directed NHTSA in the 2021 infrastructure law to establish minimum performance standards for automatic emergency braking systems, which use sensors like cameras and radar to detect when a vehicle is close to crashing and then automatically applies brakes if the driver has not done so.
In 2016, 20 automakers voluntarily agreed to make automatic emergency braking standard on nearly all U.S. vehicles by 2022 and by December all 20 had equipped at least 95% of vehicles with AEB, but critics say there is no way to ensure effectiveness without government regulations.
NHTSA in March 2023 proposed requiring vehicles comply in three years, but automakers are now getting five years.
Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Stephen Coates and Sonali Paul
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