Skip to main content

NHTSA to add automatic braking systems vehicle safety features

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to add two cutting-edge automatic emergency braking systems to the recommended advanced safety features included under its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) – the latest step in a half-century of safety innovations that have saved more than 600,000 lives, according to new NHTSA research. The agency plans to continue to encourage development and commercialization of additional promising saf
January 23, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx has announced that the 834 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plans to add two cutting-edge automatic emergency braking systems to the recommended advanced safety features included under its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) – the latest step in a half-century of safety innovations that have saved more than 600,000 lives, according to new NHTSA research.

The agency plans to continue to encourage development and commercialization of additional promising safety-related technologies of vehicle automation through its recommendation of two automatic emergency braking systems – crash imminent braking (CIB) and dynamic brake support (DBS). The addition is the latest in a long history of safety innovations covered in NHTSA's new report, which uses data from the agency's Fatal Accident Reporting System to create a statistical model that estimated safety technologies have saved 613,501 lives since 1960.

According to NHTSA data, one-third of all police-reported crashes in 2013 involved a rear-end collision with another vehicle at the start of the crash. The agency also found that a large number of drivers involved in rear-end crashes either did not apply the brakes at all or did not apply the brakes fully prior to the crash. Crash imminent braking and dynamic brake support systems can intervene by automatically applying the vehicle's brakes or supplementing the driver's braking effort to mitigate the severity of the crash or to avoid it altogether.

These AEB systems, along with promising innovations such as vehicle-to-vehicle communications (V2V) and automated vehicle technologies hold great promise to save even more lives and prevent even more crashes, building upon the successes of crashworthiness and crash avoidance technologies currently available in vehicles today. As these technologies mature, NHSTA will continue to accelerate its push on innovative and effective solutions to reduce the staggering toll of motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. through our research, regulatory, and consumer information programs.

The NHTSA action also marks the first step in a broader revision of NCAP and seeks to ensure the program continues to encourage both consumers and automakers to develop and adopt advanced vehicle safety technologies.

"Adding AEB to our list of recommended features will encourage consumers to consider AEB as a factor in their new car purchase and encourage automakers to make this important innovation more widely available," said NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind. "NCAP is a critical tool for enhancing safety, so we are also looking at additional innovations to the program to capitalise on this exciting period of progress in safety technology."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Solar studs a cost-effective alternative to street lighting?
    July 30, 2012
    Road traffic accidents have an enormous impact on society in terms of human loss, pain and suffering and a significant cost to the economy, the individual and their families. Accident rates on South Africa's roads are among the highest in the world and cost the country in the region of $163 million each year. The former head of the Department of Transport (DoT), Dr Kwazi Mbanjwa, described the situation as "carnage on our roads", with over 500,000 accidents and 10,000 fatalities per annum and the number of
  • Peachtree Corners left-turn project reduces highway crashes
    January 2, 2024
    Applied Information & Wavetronix solution alerts drivers in Georgia mobility testbed
  • ITS America names new president and CEO
    April 28, 2015
    The Board of Directors of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America), has named Regina Hopper president and chief executive officer effective from 18 May 2015. Hopper is a veteran executive of major Washington industry associations. Her experience in public policy advocacy, communications, media and law spans the transportation, telecommunications and energy industries. She most recently served as president and CEO of America’s Natural Gas Alliance where she built operations from the
  • New US fuel efficiency standards would cost over US$65 billion in lost revenue
    April 17, 2012
    Friday’s proposal by the Obama Administration to increase fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks to an average 54.5 miles per gallon (4.32 litres/100 km) between 2017 and 2025 would result in the loss of more than $65 billion in federal funding for state and local highway, bridge and transit improvements, an analysis by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) shows.