Them's the Brakes: Ex-NHTSA Administrator, Consumer Groups Sue NHTSA

Automatic emergency braking (AEB) should be mandatory, not voluntary, say safety groups, some of which have sued in order to see it happen.

It’s something of an odd situation, as one of the people behind a lawsuit filed against the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is an ex-NHTSA administrator.

According to The Detroit News, former NHTSA administrator Joan Claybrook has signed her name to the lawsuit, alongside Consumer Watchdog and the Center for Auto Safety.

The suit alleges NHTSA didn’t respond to the advocate’s petition — delivered in January — calling for mandatory AEB. By law, the regulator must grant or deny the petition within 120 days. Instead, NHTSA arranged a voluntary agreement with 20 automakers to install AEB as standard equipment in almost all of their vehicles by September 1, 2022.

The agreement means that 99 percent of light-duty vehicles on American roads will possess the technology by that date, with heavy trucks following in 2025. Imposing mandatory AEB through regulations, NHTSA said, would take an extra three years, during which time a total of 28,000 preventable crashes (resulting in 12,000 injuries) would occur.

“Voluntary standards don’t work,” Claybrook said in a statement. “They protect manufacturers, not consumers.”

Claybrook served as head of NHTSA during the Carter administration before becoming president of Public Citizen, where she still holds the title of professor emeritus. Her comments were echoed by the other groups behind the lawsuit.

“NHTSA continues to allow automakers to introduce advanced safety features at their own pace, by issuing ‘voluntary’ guidelines with no force of law,” said Michael Brooks, acting director at the Center for Auto Safety. “For too long, the agency has postponed requiring the proven lifesaving technology of Automatic Emergency Braking.”

According to Harvey Rosenfield, founder of Consumer Watchdog, NHTSA took its eye off the ball. The safety advocate has stated that the regulator focused too closely on crafting self-driving vehicle regulations, letting other issues slide.

A spokesperson for NHTSA told The Detroit News that the regulator is reviewing the petition.

[Image: Daniel X. O’Neil/ Flickr ( CC BY 2.0)]