Truckers to feds: Hit the brakes

If the federal government gets its way, most new vehicles will be equipped with automatic emergency brakes within about five years.

Final rules are scheduled to be released by April that are expected to mandate AEB technology on light vehicles and heavy-duty trucks.

Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a proposal to require automatic emergency braking systems on new light vehicles. If the rule is adopted as proposed, nearly all new U.S. vehicles weighing 10,000 pounds or less will be required to have AEB technology three years after it is published in the Federal Register. As of press time, the White House Office of Management and Budget was reviewing the final rule.

In addition to the light vehicle rulemaking, NHTSA and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a joint proposal last year that would require AEB systems and electronic stability control systems on new vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds.

The heavy vehicle proposal calls for all Class 7 and 8 vehicles – those weighing more than 26,000 pounds – to be required to meet the AEB standards three years after the rule takes effect. All Class 3 to 6 vehicles – those weighing 10,001 to 26,000 pounds – would be required to meet the AEB and electronic stability control requirements in four years. Small-volume manufacturers would have until five years after the final rule took effect. There would not be any retrofit requirements on existing heavy vehicles. The rule still had not been sent to OMB as of press time in early February, but the latest regulatory agenda projected it to be unveiled in April.

AEB technology

The agencies project that the light vehicle rule would save 360 lives every year and that the heavy vehicle mandate would prevent 150 fatalities annually.

Truck safety groups support the mandate and believe it would make roads safer for pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

The issue, however, is whether or not the technology has been perfected.

If automatic emergency braking systems worked exactly as touted, there wouldn’t be a trucker out there who wouldn’t want the safeguard.

But the reality is that AEB systems have been around a while, and there are plenty of truck drivers who share horror stories about the tech issuing a hard brake because it confused a shadow with an imminent safety hazard.

Many of the safest and most experienced truck drivers don’t like AEBs because they take away drivers’ control and can create dangerous situations.

In the October 2023 issue of Land Line Magazine, truck driver Carrie Moore shared her near-crash story. Moore said she was driving on a snowy Michigan highway in 2022 when a guardrail along a curve triggered a false activation.

She added that the ill-timed braking incident caused her truck to jackknife on the icy road.

“It was a full application,” she said. “That sent the truck sideways. I barely kept it out of the median. The only thing that saved me was hearing the voices of my parents, who were both truck drivers. They taught me that the last thing you want to do in that situation is to hit the brakes. Instead, you tap the gas to get out of it.”

Although the advice helped her avoid crashing into the median, the incident scared Moore so much that she said she would quit the trucking industry before driving in another truck with AEB tech.

“A computer decided that my eyeballs and situational awareness of the curve didn’t matter, only that metal was ahead and if it didn’t slam on the brakes, I would hit it,” Moore wrote in comments to the agency. “It sent me into a jackknife, and I was barely able to recover the skid before going off the road because the computer assumed I would go straight instead of with the curve. If others were next to me, I would’ve hit them. It would have been a multivehicle accident caused entirely by a computer.”

The timing of the proposal to mandate AEBs is a head-scratcher. Just before the agencies announced the notices of proposed rulemaking, NHTSA opened an investigation into false automatic braking on certain Freightliner and Western Star trucks. There were 18 complaints of false AEB activation “without an actual roadway obstacle.” In some instances, the false activation brought the truck to a complete stop in the travel lane.

Not until perfected

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association opposes any attempts to mandate the technology until it is perfected.

“The notice of proposed rulemaking mandates AEB systems without sufficiently addressing false activations, properly consulting with professional truck drivers or completing ongoing research programs,” OOIDA wrote in comments signed by President Todd Spencer.

The heavy vehicle proposal received about 1,100 comments. Many came from truck drivers who echo OOIDA’s assessment that the government shouldn’t force someone to use equipment that isn’t ready for primetime.

Join the fight

The comment period is over for the AEB rulemakings. However, OOIDA will continue to explore all avenues to stop a potentially dangerous mandate from taking effect. To support OOIDA’s efforts, go to FightingForTruckers.com and write your elected officials about your concerns.  LL