Automatic emergency braking systems on heavy-duty trucks are not ready for a mandate, a member of Congress said at a recent House subcommittee hearing.
The House Highways and Transit Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 12 focused on several trucking issues, including efforts to require AEBs and electronic stability control systems on new vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds.
Rep. Mike Collins, who owns a trucking company, said he tried the technology before determining it was unsafe.
“From someone who runs a little over 100 trucks, I’ve tried those automatic braking systems, and we pulled them,” said Collins, R-Ga. “They’re not fail-proof. If you’re ever in a truck going 65 mph down the interstate loaded with 80,000 gross and your truck just all of a sudden slams on the brakes and there’s no reason other than the bridge ahead or the construction flashing sign, then you’ll understand that these things aren’t fail-proof and we don’t need them mandated until they are. Because the car behind you, they don’t know why you slammed on the brakes either … People don’t understand that these things are actually hurting more than they’re helping right now.”
In 2023, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a joint proposal to require AEBs on heavy vehicles.
The heavy vehicle proposal calls for all Class 7 and 8 vehicles – those weighing more than 26,000 pounds – to be required to meet the AEB standards three years after the rule takes effect. All Class 3 to 6 vehicles – those weighing 10,001 to 26,000 pounds – would be required to meet the AEB and electronic stability control requirements in four years. Small-volume manufacturers would have until five years after the final rule took effect. There would not be any retrofit requirements on existing heavy vehicles.
According to the latest regulatory agenda, a final rule was scheduled to be released early in 2025. With a new administration, however, it is unclear how the Department of Transportation plans to proceed.
Opponents of an AEB mandate often point to false activations. Truckers have said the emergency brakes can go off from the shadow of a bridge overpass or from a guardrail while they’re driving safely along a curve.
NHTSA launched an investigation into automatic emergency braking systems in May 2023 on certain Freightliner and Western Star trucks. There were 18 complaints of false AEB activation “without an actual roadway obstacle.” In some instances, the false activation brought the truck to a complete stop in the travel lane.
As of Friday, Feb. 14, the investigation remained open.
Trucking safety groups, such as Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, have said that AEBs reduce speed at the moment of impact and lead to a reduced crash severity.
The agencies have argued an AEB mandate on heavy vehicles would prevent 19,118 crashes, 115 fatalities and 8,814 injuries annually. LL
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