NHTSA's announcement that automatic emergency braking will become standard on almost all new vehicles by 2022 will have dramatic safety implications for drivers and passengers, but will it prevent crashes with pedestrians and cyclists?
Traffic fatality statistics have shown a disturbing trend over the last decade for non-motorized transportation. Thanks to better construction making vehicles more crashworthy, combined with the use of seat belts and air bags, total traffic fatalities and injuries have declined* while pedestrian fatalities have been increasing.
"2015 saw a 10 percent increase in pedestrians killed in motor vehicle crashes compared to a four percent decline in overall traffic deaths during the same period," notes a March 9 post on the Governors Highway Safety Association report based on preliminary data on traffic fatalities last year.
The joint announcement on March 17 by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) of a "commitment (to) make AEB (automatic emergency braking) standard on virtually all light-duty cars and trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 8,500 lbs. or less beginning no later than Sept. 1, 2022" is great news for traffic safety advocates. But will this crash avoidance technology benefit those outside of vehicles?
This video shows what the technology is capable of doing—preventing or moderating rear-end crashes. Pedestrians and cyclists may or may not be covered depending on the rating of this life-saving technology.
To encourage further development of AEB technology, NHTSA will accelerate its research on more advanced AEB applications, including systems that reduce the risk of collisions with pedestrians. In December, NHTSA announced plans to rate AEB systems and other advanced technologies under its 5-Star Safety Ratings beginning in model year 2018.
According to that December 2015 announcement, pedestrians could see benefits from the new technology:
- A new 5-Star Safety Ratings system, which will, for the first time, encompass assessment of crash-avoidance and advanced technologies as well as pedestrian protection;
- New tests to assess how well vehicles protect pedestrians from head, leg and pelvic injuries that occur when a pedestrian is struck by a vehicle...
Bill Chappell of NPR further describes the safety benefits resulting from "20 carmakers have committed to making automatic emergency braking systems a standard feature on virtually all new cars sold in the U.S. by 2022."
*Traffic fatalities increased last year by eight percent to 38,300 according to the National Safety Council.
Read the full story: U.S. DOT and IIHS announce historic commitment of 20 automakers to make automatic emergency braking standard on new vehicles
Pedestrian Deaths Last Year Projected to Be Highest Since 1990
Among the factors that stand out in the "Spotlight on Highway Safety" report released Thursday by the Governors Highway Safety Association is increased "death by SUV," which kill at a higher rate than cars. Distraction, however, is hard to prove.
Despite Reports, Federal Safety Officials Didn't Act on Danger of SUVs to Pedestrians
A 2015 NHTSA report showed that pedestrians were multiple times more likely to die if struck by SUVs, but that information was neither shared nor acted upon.
The Dilemma of Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Autonomous vehicles hold the potential to greatly reduce auto crashes. Advocates want them on the road as early as possible to reduce fatalities. Skeptics worry that the public will be guinea pigs during the testing—case in point: Elaine Herzberg.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority