News Summary:
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Hoylman also wants all cars to have safety features such as automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lane departure warning (LKAS), which are currently available or standard on some vehicles. But the most interesting proposal is one that potentially affects many popular SUVs and pick-up trucks. Hoylman wants the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to set rules that ensure drivers of vehicles larger than 3,000 lbs ( 1,360 kg) have “direct visibility of pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users from the driver`s position.”
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A bill in the New York State Senate proposes mandatory speed assist and safety technology, as well as strict visibility rules for large SUVs, to reduce pedestrian injuries and deaths. A bill by Manhattan Senator Brad Hoyleman would have all passenger cars sold after 2024 be equipped with the same type of Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA) that the European Union recently mandated for cars in the region. ISA, which uses navigation and character recognition to determine legal speed limits, can be overridden by the driver, but cars with this technology built-in may experience audible warnings, vibrations, aggressive acceleration, etc, you can use several tactics to prevent speeding.
Full-sized SUVs and trucks have come under fire for causing numerous pedestrian injuries and fatalities, but that 3,000 lbs limit won`t only affect colossal machines like the Cadillac Escalade. It would mean almost every car, truck, and SUV, excluding minnows like the Chevy Spark and Mazda Miata, would need to comply with visibility rules, and we suspect more than a few supercars will struggle if the regs require comprehensive rear- and rear-three-quarter visibility.
“We think that, if New York goes first, we could push the marketplace and have an effect across the country,” Hoylman told Streetsblog, suggesting that the proposal could cut traffic fatalities by 20 percent and help kick start a nationwide program to improve road safety. However, critics of the bill have questioned whether New York State has the authority to demand vehicles be fitted with equipment like ISA. Safety features are regulated at the federal level, unlike emissions standards that can again be set at the state level.
