Car Makers Pledge to Make Automatic Brakes Standard by 2022

Nearly all auto makers have pledged to make automatic emergency brakes standard on vehicles within six years, said people​ familiar with the matter, adding to safety breakthroughs such as air bags that have become mainstays on cars and trucks.

Auto makers representing 99% of U.S. light-vehicle sales will pledge to car-safety regulators and the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on Thursday that the technology will be on nearly all their ​cars and trucks by September 2022, the people​ said.

General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co., Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV, Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG are among the car makers making the pledge, the person said. Others doing so include luxury car manufacturers BMW AG, Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen's Audi, the person said.

Reuters earlier reported on the agreement.

The pledge, expected to be unveiled at a news conference Thursday in McLean, Va., with auto makers, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and insurance institute, follows an initial promise from some ​car companies in September to eventually make the braking technology standard.

Automatic emergency-braking systems use vehicle sensors including cameras, radars and lasers to detect imminent crashes. The systems then war motorists before engaging brakes automatically if the driver doesn't react quickly enough.

Regulators have been pushing car makers to put the technology on more vehicles to help cut down on traffic fatalities. Other automated technologies popping up on vehicles include lane-departure warnings, collision warnings and systems designed to steer cars back when they veer out of lanes on roadways.

The technologies are harbingers of fully driverless cars. Executives from Alphabet Inc.'s Google, GM, ride-sharing company Lyft Inc. and supplier Delphi Automotive testified before a Senate panel Tuesday on developing regulations for automated vehicles.

By the end of the year, regulators plan to revamp a star-rated safety system that will prevent auto makers ​from getting top scores if a vehicle doesn't feature a trove of advanced safety features, a move that could prompt many car makers to install automatic brakes well before 2022. The feature isn't yet widespread on new vehicles sold in the U.S.

Some safety advocates have criticized regulators for engaging in what are essentially voluntary agreements with auto makers that don't feature severe penalties if they fail to comply. But regulators believe revamping existing safety rules could prove time consuming and delay more widespread adoption of many features. The revamped star-rated safety system, meanwhile, is intended to spur auto makers to install features quickly lest they lose coveted ratings that consumers weigh when shopping for a new ride.

Many of these safety features tend to be on more expensive models but they are starting to crop up on cheaper vehicles. The latest entry-level Honda Civic running around $20,000, for instance, now makes available features including lane keeping assist, adaptive cruise control that changes speeds based on traffic patterns and automatic brakes.

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Write to Mike Spector at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 16, 2016 12:55 ET (16:55 GMT)

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