DOT Embraces Automatic Braking and Other Safety Gizmos

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxxannounced last week that the automatic braking in cars will be added to the list of recommended safety features that make up its consumer advisory safety system. The inclusion of the braking system is part of a recommended set of features for new cars, but the star rating system is still based on crash tests.

The announcement is the first step in a series of actions the agency is taking to promote high-tech crash-prevention systems in cars. (This is the department that brought you air bags, folks.)

It sounds weird, but the cars with this new braking feature automatically depress the brake when a forward sensor in the car detects an imminent crash. According to DOT, about one-third of car crashes are rear-end collisions, and many drivers involved in them did not apply the brakes fully or at all.

Foxx says DOT is actively investigating other crash-prevention technologies such as vehicle-to-vehicle communications and other automated systems "to save even more lives." And, yes, a lot of these new technologies involve getting rid of human involvement. Foxx told reporters that driver error is difficult to regulate, and technology is useful in adding to (or even supplanting) a driver's judgment to reduce crashes.

Drivers may note the regulatory slight at their abilities, but I'm not offended by it. I curse at other drivers who don't notice a light has turned green but then find myself being honked at for the same offense a day later. I am not as consistent as a machine. Personally, I can't wait for the driverless cars, although those are a ways away.

(Image via Zygotehaasnobrain/Shutterstock.com)