NHTSA have finalised a rule allowing automakers to install ADB (of sorts) on new vehicles, nominally in response to a 2013 Toyota petition. NHTSA say the rule, signed by Deputy Administrator Steven Cliff, satisfies a requirement in the infrastructure law passed by Congress last year, which directed NHTSA to allow ADB as defined and specified by SAE standard J3069.
The A.D.B. systems allowed by NHTSA will not be like those used in the rest of the world. While the infrastructure law called for NHTSA to enact the standard devised by the Society of Automotive Engineers, which more or less adapts specifications used in most other countries so they’re compatible with the U.S. legal system, NHTSA claims a U.S. Supreme Court decision gives the agency to do otherwise.
In a statement, Cliff said “NHTSA prioritises the safety of everyone on our nation’s roads, whether they are inside or outside a vehicle. New technologies can help advance that mission. NHTSA is issuing this final rule to help improve safety and protect vulnerable road users”. But not everyone is clapping and cheering. Michael Brooks, acting executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, says “While it is encouraging to see NHTSA issuing a regulation allowing advanced driving beam, it should be pointed out that the U.S. has lagged far behind other countries in the introduction of this technology; NHTSA needs to move faster to update safety standards, particularly those with universal support in and outside the industry”.
