AMA, ANCAP demand autonomous brakes

The advent of autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems in new cars can reduce the risk of a slow-speed collision, and now there is a significant political push to outlaw new cars in Australia that do not have this feature as standard.

AEB works by using front-mounted lasers, radar or cameras to monitor objects – people, other vehicles – and warn the driver if he or she is approaching too fast. It will then apply the brakes without the driver's intervention if a collision is imminent.

The technology currently works at slow speeds, and most systems have a maximum operating speed up to 50km/h, but the powerful Australian Medical Association (AMA) and crash-safety authority Australasian New Car Assessment Programme (ANCAP) are now pushing to change federal laws barring any new cars without the technology from being sold in Australia.

"If you avoid the crash, you avoid the trauma," said AMA president, Professor Brian Owler, who appears in the NSW government's 'Don’t Rush' road safety campaign.

Representing more than 27,000 doctors, the AMA will
be lobbying politicians on Wednesday August 12 over the proposal,
during an event at Parliament House in Canberra.

Owler said the technology saves lives and a press release issued on behalf of the AMA and ANCAP stated that "In Australia, [AEB] is a costly option or not offered at all."

Many new vehicles sold in this country are standard with AEB, such as the Skoda Fabia, which starts at $15,990, but the AMA wants it to be mandatory.

The AMA also says it will push to make other new technology standard features on all new cars sold in this country. The move has the potential to increase the average cost of new cars.

By law, new passenger cars without electronic stability cannot be sold in Australia – utes are still being debated. The USA will introduce laws in 2018 that will require all new cars sold in that country, more than 15 million a year, to be fitted as standard with a reversing camera.

Roughly one million new vehicles are sold in Australia each year.

Since 1970, fatalities on Australian roads have been reduced by 84 per cent. Most of that reduction is generally considered to be due to new technology, such as seatbelts, airbags, anti-lock brakes and stability control systems.