President Donald Trump’s “regulatory freeze” will delay a final rule that requires automatic emergency braking systems on new light-duty vehicles.
In a notice published in the Federal Register on Monday, Jan. 27, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it was delaying the effective date of the rule until March 20.
On Jan. 20, Trump issued a memorandum to pause the creation of any new rules, withdraw any rules that had not been published in the Federal Register and postpone the effective date of any rules that had been published.
NHTSA’s automatic emergency braking systems final rule for light vehicles falls into the latter category.
On May 9, 2024, NHTSA published a final rule to make automatic emergency braking technology standard on all passenger cars and light trucks by September 2029. The rule, which applies to new vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less, also requires pedestrian automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning systems.
According to Trump’s order, the 60-day delay of rules will provide agencies an opportunity to open an additional comment period or to extend the delay.
What about automatic emergency braking for trucks?
In addition to the light-duty rule, NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposed mandating automatic emergency braking systems on new heavy vehicles.
The heavy vehicle proposal called 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.
Unlike the light vehicle rule, however, the heavy-duty version never was published in the Federal Register. NHTSA and FMCSA had planned on unveiling a final rule this month, but it is unclear if and when the new administration will decide to proceed.
During the formal comment period, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and individual truckers told the agencies that current AEB technologies are deficient and cited instances of false activations. Examples included false activations being triggered by shadows from an overpass or guardrails while traveling on a curve.
Other rules affected
The president’s regulatory freeze applies across all agencies, but there are several of interest to the trucking industry.
Rulemakings involving minimum training requirements for commercial drivers, automated driving systems and hair testing had all been under review at the White House Office of Management and Budget. On Jan. 21, all three of those rulemakings were withdrawn. LL
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