An auto industry lobbying group sued the U.S. Department of Transportation over a 2024 rule that requires all new vehicles to come with automatic emergency brakes by the fall of 2029.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation seeks repeal of the rule, saying certain aspects of it are impractical with current technology and that automakers have already voluntarily installed AEB systems on all new vehicles.
As the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration developed the rule, the alliance protested provisions requiring AEB systems to stop vehicles at speeds of up to 62 mph to avoid hitting vehicles in front of them and to detect pedestrians in daylight and at night, as well as a requirement that the brakes automatically engage at up to 90 mph when the vehicle is about to hit a lead vehicle and at up to 45 mph if the system detects a pedestrian in the car’s path.
The alliance said its lawsuit shouldn’t be interpreted as opposition to AEB systems or to their “widest possible deployment,” but as an attempt to make regulations around them realistic. It said automakers have in fact spent more than $1 billion developing the technology.
“… this litigation is about ensuring a rule that maximizes driver and pedestrian safety and is technologically feasible,” the alliance said in a statement on the lawsuit.
