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NHTSA truck brake rule under review at OMB

Proposal comes a week after NTSB found automatic braking could have prevented fatal crash

NHTSA prepares for AEB rule seven years after request from safety groups. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

WASHINGTON — The White House is reviewing a proposed rule to establish a safety standard to require and/or standardize the performance of automatic emergency braking systems (AEB) on heavy trucks.

According to a “statement of need” received by the Office of Management and Budget on Tuesday, the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration believes there is potential for AEB “to improve safety by reducing the likelihood of rear-end crashes involving heavy vehicles and the severity of crashes,” the agency noted.

“NHTSA is commencing the rulemaking process to potentially require new heavy vehicles to be equipped with automatic emergency braking systems, or to standardize AEB performance when the systems are optionally installed on vehicles.”

While the proposed rule is required as a provision in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law on Nov. 15, 2021 — and which requires a rule be finalized by Nov. 15, 2023 — OMB is starting its 90-day review one week after the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that a rear-end collision involving a truck that killed six people could have been prevented if a collision avoidance system, such as AEB, had been deployed.


Collision avoidance technology is also on NTSB’s “Most Wanted” list of safety regulations.

An abstract of the proposal states that NHTSA has researched forward collision avoidance and mitigation technology on heavy vehicles, including forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking systems, for several years.

In 2015, the agency granted a petition for rulemaking — but never actually proposed a rule — submitted by the Truck Safety Coalition, the Center for Auto Safety, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, and Road Safe America to require automatic forward collision avoidance and mitigation systems on heavy trucks.

In support of that petition, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance pointed out that as technology continues to advance, “it is imperative that those in the safety and enforcement communities are afforded the opportunity [to] take full advantage of technological advancements that improve safety and demonstrate a net benefit to society.”


NHTSA’s AEB proposal also has been given “economically significant” priority status because it is a regulation that is likely to have an annual economic effect of $100 million or more “or adversely affect in a material way the economy, a sector of the economy, productivity, competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or State, local, or tribal governments or communities,” according to OMB.

As per executive order, all such regulations require that agencies provide a detailed assessment of the likely benefits and costs of the regulatory action, “including a quantification of those effects, as well as a similar analysis of potentially effective and reasonably feasible alternatives,” OMB’s rules state.

Click for more FreightWaves articles by John Gallagher.

19 Comments

  1. 🇺🇸CARLOS 🇺🇸

    The AEBs False triggers cause load shifting and loss of control in slick conditions☠️🔥. We’ve had to unplug ours because of numerous loads damaged and several close calls with computer created skidding into partial Jackknife 🔥⚠️☠️⚠️🔥

  2. Driver W. Whiplash

    Sounds good on paper.
    What they don’t realize is that the EAB false triggers often enough that it conditions drivers to override it when they hear the alarm. Rendering the point moot.

  3. Dave

    This is the plan to make this job minimum wage and faze us out they keep F-nig around they’ll just go all robotic soon but guess what that can’t do everything good luck bureaucratic greedy morons. It’s not a driver issue it’s a ata and corporate issues stop hiring people that should not be behind the wheel make them heart or brain surgeons instead. Not everyone can do everything some are lawyers some build rockets and planes some just can not if they can’t shift a simple ten speed they probably should not be behind the wheel morons..

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John Gallagher

Based in Washington, D.C., John specializes in regulation and legislation affecting all sectors of freight transportation. He has covered rail, trucking and maritime issues since 1993 for a variety of publications based in the U.S. and the U.K. John began business reporting in 1993 at Broadcasting & Cable Magazine. He graduated from Florida State University majoring in English and business.