The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to add automatic emergency brakes as a recommended safety feature for vehicles, according to an announcement made by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx on Thursday, Jan. 22.
“Today marks an enormous leap in the evolution of auto safety by encouraging adoption of new technologies to keep drivers and their passengers safe on our roads,” Foxx said in a statement. “I want this department, the entire automotive industry, and other innovators to keep raising the bar on safety like we are doing now.”
The agency is looking to add two types of braking systems: crash imminent braking and dynamic brake support.
One-third of police-reported crashes in 2013 involved a rear-end collision, according to agency data, and many drivers in these accidents either did not apply brakes fully or at all before the crashes occurred.
Since 1960, safety technologies incorporated into vehicles that have been either required by US regulators or developed by automakers – including airbags and seat belts – have saved more than 600,000 lives, according to data from the agency.
“This isn’t stuff we’re dreaming up,” Foxx said, according to Bloomberg. “Over the last 50 years, we’ve seen how technology can make a difference.”
While automatic braking systems will not affect a vehicle’s star rating, which is currently based on crash tests, Foxx said the agency would consider including it in the future.
The proposed change is part of the safety administration’s New Car Assessment Program, which publishes the results of crash tests. Now, it will also list cars with the recommended safety technologies.
The suggested addition of recommended features will endure a 60-day public comment period, Reuters reported.
(With reports from Bloomberg and Reuters)
