For the past few years, automatic emergency braking was a feature only found on higher end cars. However, 20 automakers along with the United States Department of Transportation have recently announced that they are going to make it a standard feature in all new cars by September 2022, reports ABC News. Seeing that it is new to many cars, most people are probably unfamiliar with this new safety-improving technology, so let’s get you up to speed on automatic brakes.
What It Is
Automatic emergency braking, or AEB, is a warning system that uses sensors like radars, cameras and lasers to detect that a crash is about to occur. Once the vehicle detects such a possibility, the system alerts the driver and then proceeds to apply the brakes if they do not respond fast enough.
Which Cars Is It Going In?
To start, all light-duty cars and trucks with a weight of 8,500 pounds or less are expected to have the feature included by September 2022. In the three years following, trucks weighing between 8,501 pounds and 10,000 pounds will start having the feature added to the standard suite of capabilities included.
How Safe Is It?
The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety estimates that once AEB comes standard, rear-end accidents will reduce by 40 percent. In addition, it is projected that during the next eight years as the AEB is phased in on more and more cars, the technology will prevent as many as 28,000 crashes and 12,000 injuries.
New Feature, Higher Price
As is the practice with any new features on cars, this one will result in higher overall car prices. However, given what the feature brings to the table, many people might not argue with the slight increase in price. AEB systems have the potential to prevent accidents as small as fender benders and as large as serious crashes, meaning that little hike in vehicle pricing could prevent expensive repairs – or even serious injury – down the road.
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