The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking adopt a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) to require automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems on heavy vehicles, i.e., vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds). This notice also proposes to amend FMVSS No. 136 to require nearly all heavy vehicles to have an electronic stability control system that meets the equipment requirements, general system operational capability requirements, and malfunction detection requirements of FMVSS No. 136. An AEB system uses multiple sensor technologies and sub-systems that work together to sense when the vehicle is in a crash imminent situation and automatically applies the vehicle brakes if the driver has not done so or automatically applies more braking force to supplement the driver's applied braking. This NPRM follows NHTSA's 2015 grant of a petition for rulemaking from the Truck Safety Coalition, the Center for Auto Safety, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and Road Safe America, requesting that NHTSA establish a safety standard to require AEB on certain heavy vehicles. This NPRM also responds to a mandate under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, as enacted as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, directing the Department to prescribe an FMVSS that requires heavy commercial vehicles with FMVSS-required electronic stability control systems to be equipped with an AEB system, and also promotes DOT's January 2022 National Roadway Safety Strategy to initiate a rulemaking to require AEB on heavy trucks. This NPRM also proposes Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations requiring the electronic stability control and AEB systems to be on during vehicle operation.
Agency Contact: Hisham Mohamed, Office of Crash Avoidance Standards 202-366-0307. Comments must be received on or before Sept. 5, 2023.
PUBLISHED: 7/6/23; ACTION: NPRM; REFERENCE: 88 FR 43174; REFERENCE: 49 CFR Part 571.128 and 136, 49 CFR 393.56 and 57.
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