By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A group representing major automakers said on Friday they filed a lawsuit to block a landmark law by President Joe Biden's administration that would require nearly all new cars and trucks by 2029 to have automatic ignition systems.
The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents General Motors (NYSE:), Toyota Motor (NYSE:), Volkswagen (ETR:) and other automakers, said the rule decided in April by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration “is not impossible with the technology available.”
The group asked the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to overturn the law.
NHTSA declined to comment.
The coalition said the requirement that cars and trucks be able to stop and avoid vehicles in front of them at up to 62 miles per hour (100 kph) is unrealistic, and it unsuccessfully asked NHTSA last year to reconsider the rule.
The new safety rule is one of the most important auto safety rules in the US in recent years. NHTSA said in April that the rule would save at least 360 lives a year and prevent at least 24,000 injuries as road deaths rise after the epidemic.
Alliance CEO John Bozzella called the decision “wrong on the merits. Wrong on the science. It's a really bad decision.”
Bozzella wrote in November to President-elect Donald Trump, urging him to reconsider the regulation.
Congress directed NHTSA in a 2021 infrastructure law to establish performance standards for automatic emergency braking systems, which use sensors such as cameras and radar to detect when a vehicle is close to a collision and then apply the brakes automatically if the driver is not.
In 2016, 20 automakers voluntarily agreed to make emergency braking standard on all US vehicles by 2022. By the end of 2023, all 20 were equipped with at least 95% of vehicles with AEB, but critics say that there is no way to ensure the operation without the government. regulations.
NHTSA in May 2023 proposed requiring cars to comply in three years, but automakers now get five years.