Guest Commentary

Guest commentary: Automatic emergency braking: The auto industry shrugged

A new federal standard requires that all cars be able to stop and avoid contact with a vehicle in front of them at up to 62cq mph and that the systems must detect pedestrians in daylight and darkness. In addition, the standard requires that the system apply the brakes automatically up to 90 mph when a collision with a lead vehicle is imminent, and up to 45 mph when a pedestrian is detected.
NHTSA brought forth a new rule last year — Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 127 — to make automatic emergency braking and pedestrian AEB standard for new cars and light trucks by September 2029. (GETTY IMAGES)
RL
By:
Roger Lanctot
February 19, 2025 04:37 PM

I backed out of my driveway on Christmas evening on the way to dinner with family and promptly hit my neighbor’s mother-in-law’s car parked across the street. Yes, it was dark. Yes, my car is a 2023 BMW X3 with a backup camera. Yes, BMW is a party to the industrywide voluntary adoption of automatic emergency braking. But no, my vehicle neither warned me nor braked.

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