These days, automakers are constantly on the edge of developing new technologies that make everyday driving a much safer endeavor. Some of these innovations are ones that we take for granted, like the seat belt, the airbag, and even the rear-view camera that pops up when we shift modern cars into reverse.
However, as much as these innovations save lives, they were initially met with resistance from both drivers and even the manufacturers of their cars. In transcripts of a 1971 meeting between former Ford and Chrysler executive Lee Iacocca and then-U.S. President Richard Nixon, the famed executive fiercely fought against proposed airbag regulations because they would drive up costs.
“We have already sunk two hundred and forty million into the safety area,” the then-Ford executive said. “We cannot carry the load of inflation in wages and safety in a four-year period without breaking our back.”
Despite his notorious “safety doesn’t sell” resistance, Iacocca became an advocate for airbags, even going as far as appearing in Chrysler commercials that boasted the Detroit automaker’s commitment to providing them in its models.
In today’s digital world, it may seem like there is an electronic assist for every function and vulnerability in modern cars, however, automakers are getting more vocal against a new safety innovation.
A car mechanic changes the brake disc of a Range Rover Evoque in a garage.
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Industry group pushes back against automatic braking.
To repeal new regulations, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation is taking the US Department of Transportation (DoT) to court to try and repeal regulations that will require automakers to ship almost all new cars and light trucks with automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems by 2029.
The suit is in response to a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ruling finalized in April 2024 that will require “all cars to be able to stop and avoid contact with a vehicle in front of them at speeds up to 62 miles per hour,” as well as to detect pedestrians at all hours of the day, including in the dark.
As per the NHTSA, cars equipped with the required automatic emergency braking systems must be able to stop a car at speeds up to 45 miles per hour when a pedestrian is detected.
Despite its lawsuit, the lobbying group, which represents automakers ranging from BMW, Ferrari, Ford, GM, Stellantis, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes, and Toyota, insists that it does not oppose AEB and does not lack confidence in the technology.
However, the Alliance strongly opposes the ruling. In a November statement, its president and CEO, John Bozzella, argued that such a requirement is “wrong on the merits” and “science.”
“Really a disastrous decision by the nation’s top traffic safety regulator that will endlessly – and unnecessarily – frustrate drivers; will make vehicles more expensive; and at the end of the day… won’t really improve driver or pedestrian safety,” Bozzella said.
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The suit is not the first motion of pushback that the Alliance has made against this ruling.
Previously, it filed petitions and even wrote to Congress, pleading with lawmakers to help the NHTSA reconsider a rule it feels is “practically impossible with available technology,” and instead raised the suggestion of adopting an overseas rule stateside.
“[…] we recommended NHTSA adopt a standard already in place in Europe that detects a potential forward collision, provides a driver warning, and automatically engages the braking system to avoid a collision – or mitigate its severity – through the use of existing crashworthiness systems designed to better protect road users,” Bozzella wrote in the June 2024 letter.
Additionally, in a letter the group wrote to President Trump shortly after he won the election in November 2024, it mentioned that the ruling is “inconsistent with regulations implemented in other parts of the world,” and urged the Trump administration to “re-open the AEB rule” for reconsideration.
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Popular automakers’ AEB systems are not ‘perfect’ yet, NHTSA probe suggests
Despite the strict rules surrounding automatic braking, the NHTSA believes it can prevent 362 fatalities and reduce more than 24,000 injuries yearly with the ruling in place.
However, current technology hiccups are proving that it would be a hard sell to both automakers and the consumers who buy them.
In a new move, the NHTSA expanded a probe into 290,000 Honda vehicles over its automatic emergency braking systems. The initial probe, which affects over 290,000 Hondas in the US, specifically the 2019 to 2022 model year Honda Insight and 2019-2023 Honda Passport, was launched after complaints of “phantom braking,” essentially, instances where the car automatically braked for objects that did not exist.
According to the agency, inadvertent and unrequired activation of the AEB system can increase the risk of a collision. So far, it is aware of 106 incidents related to the issue, including eight injuries and three crashes, some of which involved fires.
Honda’s automatic braking system has previously been the subject of escalated NHTSA investigations. In April 2024, it investigated a similar “phantom braking issue” on 2017 to 2022 model year Honda Accord and CR-V models linked to 93 injuries and 47 crashes.
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