Automatic Emergency Braking Standard by September 2029

May 28, 2024 — Automatic emergency braking and pedestrian automatic emergency braking systems will become standard and mandated on passenger vehicles and light trucks by September 2029.

After years of leaving the choice to automakers whether AEB is available on vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration now has a new safety standard automakers must meet.

Automatic emergency braking is supposed to be a safety feature for vehicle occupants and others on the roads. A driver will receive a warning if the vehicle senses an imminent forward crash with a vehicle, object or pedestrian.

If the driver doesn't take action, the computer will intervene and apply the brakes without the driver doing anything.

Or that's how it's supposed to work.

Though NHTSA says the "safety standard is expected to significantly reduce rear-end and pedestrian crashes," the government has allowed automakers to choose if their vehicles were equipped with the features.

Consumer advocates were screaming in 2016 about NHTSA's decision in 2014 to make voluntary agreements with 10 automakers to eventually include automatic emergency braking in their models. However, Fiat Chrysler, Honda and Nissan didn't voluntarily agree.

Then in January 2016, 18 automakers agreed to voluntarily improve safety, a move safety advocates lambasted by alleging the agreements were made behind closed doors and without public input.

NHTSA says the new requirement arrives because the "technology is now mature enough to require it in all new cars and light trucks."

According to safety regulators, the new standard requires all cars be able to stop and avoid contact with a vehicle in front of them up to 62 miles per hour. In addition, the automatic emergency braking systems must detect pedestrians in both daylight and darkness.

The automatic emergency braking system must also apply the brakes automatically up to 90 mph when a collision with a lead vehicle is imminent, and up to 45 mph when the system detects a pedestrian.

As for NHTSA's statement about the technology now being mature enough: