Car-safety features stuck in slow lane
Washington — Twenty automakers pledged to the Obama administration they would commit to voluntarily equip all of their passenger vehicles with automatic emergency braking by September 2022, but less than a quarter of the manufacturers appear to be on pace to hit the target.
Safety advocates say the remaining automakers have little incentive to keep their promises regarding safety technologies because President Donald Trump’s administration, which has yet to nominate a director for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has shown no urgency about enforcing the deadline — or, for that matter, pushing for other life-saving technologies.
NHTSA says only four of 20 automakers in 2017 equipped at least half of their U.S. models with standard automatic emergency brakes, which automatically apply the brakes when a front collision is imminent.
The highest rates were for luxury brands such as Tesla and Mercedes-Benz. Among mass-market companies, Toyota Motor Corp. fitted the devices to 56 percent of its 2017 fleet, compared with 30 percent for Honda Motor Co., 20 percent for General Motors Co., and less than 10 percent for Ford Motor Co. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV offered automatic emergency braking on only 6 percent of its 2017 fleet, according to NHTSA.
Much more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2018/03/05/car-safety-features-slow-coming/111097598/
In November, Ford said it would make the automatic brakes standard on two key 2019 models - The Edge and Ranger - but would not say when they would be standard on all models. The Edge is shown in this photo. The 2019 Ford Edge ST during the unveiling of the Ford display at the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center in Detroit on January 14, 2018. (Robin Buckson/The Detroit News)