ATA Urges OEMs to Adopt Automatic Braking Systems
PHILADELPHIA — American Trucking Associations’ board of directors agreed to urge the nation’s truck and car manufacturers to equip all new vehicles with automatic emergency braking systems, or AEB.
“In our role as a safety leader, we believe ATA needs to be at the forefront of advocating for proven safety technologies,” said ATA President Bill Graves. The announcement was made at the final press conference Oct. 20 at the Management Conference l & Exhibition here.
“The experience of our member fleets tells us that automatic emergency braking systems hold tremendous promise, and as such, we believe manufacturers should make this equipment standard and the federal government should seriously look at issuing regulatory standards,” he said.
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In June, the National Transportation Safety Board encouraged manufacturers to take the same step once the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration publishes performance standards for such braking systems. The technology already is available from Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, Meritor Wabco and Daimler Trucks North America.
NHTSA announced last month that 10 auto manufacturers had agreed to make automatic emergency braking systems standard.
Graves said that NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind, “knowing how committed we are to advancing safety,” then reached out to ATA for its support of similar technology being added to trucks.
“It’s my understanding that NHTSA has been in conversation with some of the truck manufacturers,” Graves said. “We hope that our OEMs will embrace this. Having folks voluntarily agree to add this technology to their vehicles, we certainly applaud that approach. It’s a significant departure from what many in our industry have come to expect from government.”
However, Graves added that “there may be a regulatory path” in the next couple of years if voluntary compliance doesn’t happen and “we need to be supportive of that . . . to make sure that this technology is actually fully employed out on the nation’s highways.”
Rosekind certainly wants to see that happen.
“We must work to expedite the implementation of advanced technologies to save lives at every opportunity,” Rosekind said in announcing the agreement with the auto manufacturers. “AEB is a life-saving technology that should be available to every vehicle owner.”
AEB systems use radar and/or a camera to autonomously apply a truck’s brakes in order to prevent or reduce the impact of a crash. The system will intervene and brake the vehicle automatically after audible and/or visual warning alerts a driver about a potential rear-end collision and the driver doesn’t respond. Some systems also will charge the brakes in order to provide the most efficient braking and prepare the vehicle for collision by pretensioning the seat belts.
“The evidence is mounting that AEB is making a difference,” said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. “Most crashes involve driver error. This technology can compensate for the mistakes every driver makes because the systems are always on alert, monitoring the road ahead and never getting tired or distracted.”
According to NHTSA, several studies, including a recent report from IIHS, show that AEB technology can reduce insurance injury claims by as much as 35%.
“One of our fleets that installed AEB in their trucks reported that they’ve had 70% fewer rear-end collisions and a 70% reduction in the severity of the collisions that have occurred,” said Fred Andersky, Bendix’s director of customer solutions and marketing-controls.
Although the list price for AEB systems can top $6,000, OEMs have offered them for less than $4,000. They can’t be retrofitted, but Andersky expects that more than 40% of all new trucks will include the technology by 2020.
