Click to enlarge.
All 20 participating automakers have fulfilled a voluntary pledge to equip nearly all the light vehicles they produce for the U.S. market with automatic emergency braking (AEB), according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Five new manufacturers installed AEB on more than 95% of the light vehicles they produced between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023, to meet the deadline set in a previous agreement.* General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Maserati and Porsche all dramatically increased the proportion of their vehicles equipped with the technology to meet the target. Kia, which was already close last year, also crossed the finish line.
Audi, BMW, Ford/Lincoln, Honda/Acura, Hyundai/Genesis, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan/Infiniti, Stellantis, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota/Lexus, Volkswagen and Volvo fulfilled the voluntary commitment in previous years.
“The successful completion of this milestone shows what can be achieved when automakers and safety advocates work together toward our common goal of eliminating as many crashes as possible,” IIHS President David Harkey said.
*The commitment that began in 2016 was lobbied by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) agreed. As a result automakers promised to equip at least 95% of cars and trucks up to 8500 pounds with the technology.
“Car buyers today will find that almost any new vehicle they buy comes standard with a city-speed AEB system, typically with pedestrian detection. This is significant progress, and it sets the stage for the strong federal safety standards that have been proposed,” said William Wallace, associate director of safety policy for Consumer Reports.
To fulfill their commitment, manufacturers must attest that the AEB system on their vehicles meets certain performance standards. The forward collision warning feature must meet a subset of NHTSA’s current requirements on the timing of driver alerts. The AEB must either be able to slow the vehicle by at least 10 mph in one of two tests conducted at 12 and 25 mph or by 5 mph at both speeds — the level of performance needed for an advanced rating in the Institute’s original vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention evaluation.
“Thanks to this cooperation, automakers made this safety feature standard equipment years before there was a legal mandate requiring them to do so,” Harkey said. “Now that a regulation is on the horizon, the progress that we’ve made will be set in stone and expanded on to generate even bigger benefits.”
NHTSA unveiled a proposal on 31 May 2023 to require that all new passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less to have AEB capable of braking to fully avoid a crash with another vehicle at up to 50 mph, with a four-year grace period from the date the eventual rule is adopted. NHTSA projects that this proposed rule, if finalized, would save at least 360 lives a year and reduce injuries by at least 24,000 annually. In addition, these AEB systems would result in significant reductions in property damage caused by rear-end crashes. Many crashes would be avoided altogether, while others would be less destructive.
If the regulation is adopted in its present form, vehicles will also have to be able to stop for pedestrians from speeds up to 40 mph, and the pedestrian detection will have to work in dark conditions — a requirement for which IIHS had petitioned. In June 2023, NHTSA proposed a regulation that would mandate AEB capable of preventing crashes with other vehicles for trucks and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds.
Pedestrian detection has been part of IIHS award criteria for several years running, and, as of 2023, a nighttime test was added to the battery of evaluations needed for Top Safety Pick+. Next year, the Institute plans to introduce a higher-speed vehicle-to-vehicle AEB test that involves motorcycle and large truck targets as well as passenger cars.
Consumer Reports currently awards additional points to a vehicle’s Overall Score for models that have AEB with pedestrian detection as standard equipment and for AEB that operates at highway speeds. In order to be named a CR Top Pick, a vehicle must have both.
To fulfill their commitment, manufacturers must attest that the AEB system on their vehicles meets certain performance standards. The forward collision warning feature must meet a subset of NHTSA’s current requirements on the timing of driver alerts. The AEB must either be able to slow the vehicle by at least 10 mph in one of two tests conducted at 12 and 25 mph or by 5 mph at both speeds, the level of performance needed for an advanced rating in the Institute’s original vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention evaluation.
However, under the deal automakers have longer to meet the 95% threshold when vehicles with manual transmissions and heavier vehicles are included in the calculation. By the production year that begins 1 September 2024, automakers will need to equip 95% of all their light vehicles, whether automatic or manual, with AEB. By the production year beginning 1 September 2025, they will need to meet the threshold for their entire production volume, including those vehicles in the 8500-10,000 pound category.
More than three-quarters of the automakers already meet the 95% threshold with manual-transmission vehicles included in their production totals. Four of the five automakers that produce 8500-10,000 pound vehicles for the U.S. market — Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan — already meet the threshold with those heavier vehicles included.
Some manufacturers are reaching the overall benchmark while still leaving many of their 8500-10,000 pound vehicles unequipped. So far, only Mercedes-Benz and Nissan have equipped all of their 8500-10,000 pound vehicles with AEB, while Ford has equipped 78 % and General Motors just 6 %. Stellantis, which has yet to reach the 2025 goal, has equipped 47%.
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Almost All New US Light Vehicles have Automatic Braking
Click to enlarge.
All 20 participating automakers have fulfilled a voluntary pledge to equip nearly all the light vehicles they produce for the U.S. market with automatic emergency braking (AEB), according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Five new manufacturers installed AEB on more than 95% of the light vehicles they produced between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2023, to meet the deadline set in a previous agreement.* General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Maserati and Porsche all dramatically increased the proportion of their vehicles equipped with the technology to meet the target. Kia, which was already close last year, also crossed the finish line.
Audi, BMW, Ford/Lincoln, Honda/Acura, Hyundai/Genesis, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan/Infiniti, Stellantis, Subaru, Tesla, Toyota/Lexus, Volkswagen and Volvo fulfilled the voluntary commitment in previous years.
“The successful completion of this milestone shows what can be achieved when automakers and safety advocates work together toward our common goal of eliminating as many crashes as possible,” IIHS President David Harkey said.
*The commitment that began in 2016 was lobbied by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) agreed. As a result automakers promised to equip at least 95% of cars and trucks up to 8500 pounds with the technology.
“Car buyers today will find that almost any new vehicle they buy comes standard with a city-speed AEB system, typically with pedestrian detection. This is significant progress, and it sets the stage for the strong federal safety standards that have been proposed,” said William Wallace, associate director of safety policy for Consumer Reports.
To fulfill their commitment, manufacturers must attest that the AEB system on their vehicles meets certain performance standards. The forward collision warning feature must meet a subset of NHTSA’s current requirements on the timing of driver alerts. The AEB must either be able to slow the vehicle by at least 10 mph in one of two tests conducted at 12 and 25 mph or by 5 mph at both speeds — the level of performance needed for an advanced rating in the Institute’s original vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention evaluation.
“Thanks to this cooperation, automakers made this safety feature standard equipment years before there was a legal mandate requiring them to do so,” Harkey said. “Now that a regulation is on the horizon, the progress that we’ve made will be set in stone and expanded on to generate even bigger benefits.”
NHTSA unveiled a proposal on 31 May 2023 to require that all new passenger vehicles, trucks, and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less to have AEB capable of braking to fully avoid a crash with another vehicle at up to 50 mph, with a four-year grace period from the date the eventual rule is adopted. NHTSA projects that this proposed rule, if finalized, would save at least 360 lives a year and reduce injuries by at least 24,000 annually. In addition, these AEB systems would result in significant reductions in property damage caused by rear-end crashes. Many crashes would be avoided altogether, while others would be less destructive.
If the regulation is adopted in its present form, vehicles will also have to be able to stop for pedestrians from speeds up to 40 mph, and the pedestrian detection will have to work in dark conditions — a requirement for which IIHS had petitioned. In June 2023, NHTSA proposed a regulation that would mandate AEB capable of preventing crashes with other vehicles for trucks and buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds.
Pedestrian detection has been part of IIHS award criteria for several years running, and, as of 2023, a nighttime test was added to the battery of evaluations needed for Top Safety Pick+. Next year, the Institute plans to introduce a higher-speed vehicle-to-vehicle AEB test that involves motorcycle and large truck targets as well as passenger cars.
Consumer Reports currently awards additional points to a vehicle’s Overall Score for models that have AEB with pedestrian detection as standard equipment and for AEB that operates at highway speeds. In order to be named a CR Top Pick, a vehicle must have both.
To fulfill their commitment, manufacturers must attest that the AEB system on their vehicles meets certain performance standards. The forward collision warning feature must meet a subset of NHTSA’s current requirements on the timing of driver alerts. The AEB must either be able to slow the vehicle by at least 10 mph in one of two tests conducted at 12 and 25 mph or by 5 mph at both speeds, the level of performance needed for an advanced rating in the Institute’s original vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention evaluation.
However, under the deal automakers have longer to meet the 95% threshold when vehicles with manual transmissions and heavier vehicles are included in the calculation. By the production year that begins 1 September 2024, automakers will need to equip 95% of all their light vehicles, whether automatic or manual, with AEB. By the production year beginning 1 September 2025, they will need to meet the threshold for their entire production volume, including those vehicles in the 8500-10,000 pound category.
More than three-quarters of the automakers already meet the 95% threshold with manual-transmission vehicles included in their production totals. Four of the five automakers that produce 8500-10,000 pound vehicles for the U.S. market — Ford, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan — already meet the threshold with those heavier vehicles included.
Some manufacturers are reaching the overall benchmark while still leaving many of their 8500-10,000 pound vehicles unequipped. So far, only Mercedes-Benz and Nissan have equipped all of their 8500-10,000 pound vehicles with AEB, while Ford has equipped 78 % and General Motors just 6 %. Stellantis, which has yet to reach the 2025 goal, has equipped 47%.
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