Mandated Automated Emergency Braking System Draws Opposition From Auto Industry Group

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the AEB measures will “save hundreds of lives and prevent tens of thousands of injuries every year.”

A Waymo autonomous vehicle in San Francisco on Nov. 17, 2023. Jason Henry/AFP via Getty Images

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a lobbying group for the U.S. auto industry, has asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to reconsider its recent final rule mandating automated emergency braking (AEB) systems in vehicles.

Meeting the standards set out in the rules is “practically impossible with available technology,” the alliance wrote in a letter to Congress sent on June 24. “NHTSA’s own data shows only one tested vehicle met the stopping distance requirements in the final rule.”