40 Countries Agree Cars Must Have Automatic Braking
Forty countries, including the world's biggest car-producing nations, have agreed to a United Nations regulation which will require new cars to have automated emergency braking systems.
Under the regulation, all vehicles sold must come with technology that monitors how close other vehicles, pedestrians, or objects might be. Such systems can brake on their own if there is a high risk of crashing and if the driver doesn't brake in time. However, drivers can take control and override the systems at any time.
The regulation will apply to vehicles traveling 60 kilometers per hour or less, and it only affects new cars sold in the countries that signed the agreement. It will take effect next year in Japan, and then in 2022 in the European Union.
The UN says the countries that agreed to the deal want to do more to fight road accidents, especially in cities and large towns. There were over 9,500 road deaths in the EU in 2016, but the EU Commission says automated emergency braking systems could help save over 1,000 lives a year in the European Union alone.
A 2015 study by Euro NCAP and Australasian NCAP found a 38 percent reduction in rear-end crashes for vehicles with an automated emergency braking system compared to those without one.
