The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced on Thursday that it plans to add automatic braking to its star rating system, hoping to pressure automakers into automatically adding the features to its vehicles.
U.S. transportation secretary Anthony Foxx disclosed the plan while speaking at the Washington Auto Show. He argued that adding the safety feature in vehicle safety rating programs would persuade buyers to factor in emergency braking system when purchasing a vehicle, Reuters reported.
"Today marks an enormous leap in the evolution of auto safety by encouraging adoption of new technologies to keep drivers and their passengers safe on our roads," Foxx said. "Making it very clear that the technology will be one of the criteria on which auto manufacturers are graded is a pretty big step. They all want to be a five-star company."
The transportation department also clarified that although the automatic braking system is added to the New Car Assessment Program, automakers are not required to add the technology to all vehicles, according to the Detroit News.
The 16-page proposal is open for public comments for 60 days. The NHTSA will then review and make changes based on recommendations if necessary. Automakers will need to pass test speeds and other parameters in order to earn a high star rating.
The proposal was based on the department study that one-third of documented crashes in 2013 involved a rear-end collision with another vehicle. The police reports stated that the drivers forgot to use the brakes prior to the crash.
"Vehicles with automatic braking are able to sense an impending crash and either apply the brakes for the drivers if they fail to do so, or are smart enough to know when the driver is not applying enough braking force and supplement the braking force to avoid or mitigate the collision," NHTSA said in 2013.
