GENEVA — Forty countries led by Japan and the European Union — but not the U. S. or China — have agreed to require new cars…
GENEVA — Forty countries led by Japan and the European Union — but not the U. S. or China — have agreed to require new cars and light commercial vehicles to be equipped with automated braking systems starting as soon as next year, a U. N. agency said Tuesday.
The regulation will require all vehicles sold to come equipped with the technology by which sensors monitor how close a pedestrian or object might be. The system can trigger the brakes automatically if a collision is deemed imminent and if the driver doesn’t appear set to respond in time.
The measure will apply to vehicles at “low speeds”: 60 kph (42 mph) or less, and only affects new cars sold in the markets of signatory countries — so vehicle owners won’t be required to retrofit their cars and trucks already on the roads today.
The requirement will start taking effect next year first in Japan, where 4 million cars and light commercial vehicles were sold in 2018, said Jean Rodriguez, the spokesman for the agency, called United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, or UNECE.
