NTSB Wants Collision Avondance To Be Standard On All Cars

The National Transportation Safety Board on Monday urged auto safety regulators and automakers to do more to spur the introduction of forward collision-avoidance systems to keep cars from running into those in front of them.

Since 2012, the NTSB has asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to mandate new safety technologies in all vehicles, which could dramatically reduce the number fatalities caused by driver distractions. But the auto safety agency hasn’t agreed to do so.

“You don’t pay extra for your seat belt,” NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart said on Monday. “And you shouldn’t have to pay extra for technology that can help prevent a collision altogether.” He called the board’s report released Monday a “wake-up” and urged automakers and NHTSA to work together to speed adoption.

Hart noted that just four out of 684 passenger vehicle models in 2014 included a complete forward collision-avoidance system as a standard feature. It is primarily on more expensive vehicles.

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Agent009 - 6/9/2015 10:15:46 AM

-1 Boost

This might prevent Google cars from getting rear ended as often.

scenicbyway12 - 6/9/2015 2:51:25 PM

0 Boost

That's great!

Vette71 - 6/9/2015 12:15:32 PM

+3 Boost

DOH!! "You don't pay extra for your seat belt..." Sure you pay extra. Everything that goes into a car raises the cost of the vehicle. Just because the government mandates it doesn't mean you don't pay for it. The manufacturers raise the price. Their stockholders (our pension funds) demand it. What a dope.

Agent009 - 6/9/2015 1:26:42 PM

-3 Boost

I did think that it showed a compete lack of understanding of the technology and costs.

dumpsty - 6/11/2015 9:58:24 AM

+1 Boost

The NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart shows a general lack of understanding that costs for all vehicle features are eventually passed down to the consumer. Over time these technologies become cheaper through basic advances in manufacturing, but including additional high-tech systems which controls the dynamics of the vehicle operation is a high-dollar feature to install & to potentially maintain.

The guy is basically saying that options found in some really expensive vehicles should be standard in even the cheapest car offering. Transactions have to increase in order to execute that.

TomM - 6/9/2015 5:25:42 PM

+1 Boost

The Subaru "eyesight" collision avoidance system - is available on the Legacy model - BUT - only on the Highest price Limited model ($5000 more than the base model) and the package you must buy that includes eyesight is an additional $2990.

Gee - $8000 of additional items for Free - I wonder how the NTSB is going to make that work - a rebate maybe! IF "we" should not have to pay for it - who is going to - HIM? The NTSB?

Fact is - if you buy a car in a state that only has rear license plates - the FRONT license plate bracket is NOT included and costs extra to add. Nothing on a car is ever free - it is included in the price of a car. And as car prices continue to escalate - fewer and fewer former middle class people are able to actually afford one. But there is a hidden advantage to that - fewer cars on the road means we need less NTSB regulators - especially stupid ones as mentioned above.

MDarringer - 6/9/2015 6:38:18 PM

+1 Boost

A simpler technology would be one that automatically disables hand-held cell phone use and disables even hands-free texting completely in a car not in park.

That would dramatically reduce accidents and cost less than some accident avoidance claptrap technology.

Most new cars have hands-free cell phone connectivity. The disturbing thing is that some new cars have hands-free voice texting, so even though the phone is not in your hand, you're still eyes off the road reading a screen.