Products Liability Law Daily Wrap Up, NHTSA NEWS—MOTOR VEHICLE EQUIPMENT—NHTSA finalizes rule to require automatic emergency braking in light vehicles starting in 2029, (May 1, 2024)
By Susan Engstrom
The rule fulfills a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law mandate and advances the Department of Transportation’s National Roadway Safety Strategy.
To reduce deaths and injuries from rear-end and pedestrian collisions, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has finalized a new safety standard that will make automatic emergency braking (AEB) standard on all passenger cars and light trucks by September 2029. According to an agency release, new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 127 will save at least 360 lives a year and prevent at least 24,000 injuries annually. The final rule will take effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register (NHTSA Press Release, April 29, 2024; NHTSA Final rule, 89 Fed. Reg. 39686 (May 9, 2024)).
An AEB system uses various sensor technologies and sub-systems to detect when a vehicle is close to crashing into another vehicle or a pedestrian and automatically applies the brakes if the driver has not done so, or applies more braking force to supplement the driver's braking. Pedestrian AEB technology will detect a pedestrian in both daylight and in darker conditions at night. FMVSS No. 127 applies to all passenger cars and all multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less (“light vehicles”). The total annual cost associated with the final rule is approximately $354 million in 2020 dollars.
Requirements. The final rule requires manufacturers to install AEB systems that meet the following performance requirements:
The AEB system must provide the driver with a forward collision warning (FCW) at any forward speed greater than 6.2 mph and less than 90.1 mph. The FCW must be presented via auditory and visual modalities when a collision with a lead vehicle or a pedestrian is imminent. The AEB system must apply the brakes automatically at any forward speed that is greater than 6.2 mph and less than 90.1 mph when a collision with a lead vehicle is imminent, and at any forward speed greater than 6.2 mph and less than 45.4 mph when a collision with a pedestrian is imminent.
The AEB system must prevent the vehicle from colliding with the lead vehicle or pedestrian test devices when tested according to the standard’s test procedures. These track test procedures have defined parameters, including travel speeds up to 62.2 mph, which ensure that AEB systems prevent crashes in a controlled testing environment.
In false activation tests, i.e., driving over a steel trench plate and driving between two parked vehicles, the vehicle is not permitted to brake in excess of specified amounts.
A vehicle must detect AEB system malfunctions and notify the driver of any malfunction that causes the AEB system not to meet the minimum proposed performance requirements.
Differences from proposed rule. The final rule adopts most of the requirements that were in the notice of proposed rulemaking published in June 2023, but NHTSA made a few changes after considering comments received in response to the notice. For example, the final rule: (1) modifies the range of forward speeds at which the AEB must operate; (2) includes an explicit prohibition against manufacturers installing a control designed for the sole purpose of deactivating the AEB system, except as it relates to law enforcement; and (3) modifies the FCW visual signal location requirement to increase the specified maximum visual angle from 10 degrees to 18 degrees in the vertical direction.
In addition, the final rule includes not only the cost of a software upgrade, but also the cost to equip a second sensor (radar) on vehicles that do not currently have the needed hardware. The final rule also requires that manufacturers comply with all provisions of the rule at the end of a five-year period (rather than a three- or four-year period) starting the first September 1 following publication of the rule, which would be September 1, 2029.
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