Pump the brakes! US safety regulator announces HUGE change to all new cars and ... trends now
New cars sold in America will soon be required to come with automatic braking systems in a move designed to drive down soaring traffic fatalities.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is mandating all passenger vehicles to be kitted out with the brakes in a strive to save 362 lives per year, amid a 'crisis in roadway deaths'.
But the rule will also drive up prices, which NHTSA estimates to come at a total cost of $354 million per year in 2020 dollars, or $82 per vehicle.
The law comes into effect September 2029, giving auto makers more than five years to remodel any vehicles which aren't compliant with the requirements.
It's the most significant safety rule to be imposed in the US in more than 20 years, according to the NHTSA.
New cars sold in America will be required to come with automatic braking systems in a move designed to drive down soaring pedestrian fatalities
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg (pictured) said the new rule will save 362 lives per year, prevent about 24,000 injuries and save billions in property damage
Some 40,000 people die in the US each year as a result of traffic collisions.
'We´re living through a crisis in roadway deaths,' Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said while speaking about the change. 'We need to do something about it.'
Although around 90 percent of new vehicles have the automatic braking standard now under a voluntary agreement with automakers, there are currently no performance requirements meaning some systems are less effective.
The new regulations set standards for vehicles to automatically stop and avoid hitting other vehicles or pedestrians, even at night.
Buttigieg, 42, said it will save 362 lives per year, prevent about 24,000 injuries and save billions in property damage.
'Part of how I think we´re going to turn the corner on the unacceptable level of roadway deaths that we just lived with for my entire lifetime is through these kinds of technologies,' he said.
'We need to make sure we set high performance standards.'
The regulation, which will require additional engineering to bolster software and possibly add hardware such as radar, won't go into effect for more than five years.
That will give automakers time to bolster their systems during the normal model update cycle, NHTSA said.
Critics say the standards should have come sooner, and that they don´t appear to require that the systems spot people on bicycles, scooters or other vulnerable people.
