One of the most difficult elements of FMVSS 127 is the nighttime Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking (PAEB) test, which, in contrast to the European Union’s new AEB regulation, is required to function in total darkness. According to the NHTSA, over 70 percent of pedestrians who are struck and killed by vehicles do so during the night.
Ensuring pedestrian safety at night is “likely to necessitate additional advancements and innovations in sensor technologies,” remarks Nadine Wong, director of track testing at the independent testing firm Dynamic Research. Operating from a test facility located 15 miles north of Bakersfield, California, Dynamic Research is already engaged in FMVSS 127 testing for various clients. “We are aware that there are vehicles currently on the market that come quite close to qualifying under the standard,” Wong noted.
The NHTSA recognizes that FMVSS 127 is “technology-forcing,” yet insists that the “standard is feasible.”
While the industry would bear costs amounting to $354 million primarily for software development, the NHTSA claims that society in the United States would gain up to $7.26 billion, citing reductions in costs related to the “negative externalities” of serious car accidents, such as emergency response fees, medical expenses, insurance administrative costs, workplace impacts, and legal fees.
“Considering that automaking is the largest manufacturing sector in America, employing 10 million individuals, contributing 5 percent of the US GDP, and generating $1 trillion into the economy annually,” explains Chase, “it is astonishing that the [auto industry] would be unable to meet the AEB rule requirements by September 2029.”
In a press release, William Wallace, Consumer Reports’ director of safety advocacy, expressed agreement: “It is profoundly disheartening that automotive manufacturers are seeking to obstruct this lifesaving automatic emergency braking regulation.”
Shaun Kildare, research director at the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, shares this sentiment. “When they claim, ‘It’s unfeasible; we can never fulfill this standard,’ it’s untrue because certain car manufacturers are already marketing vehicles in the US that comply,” he states. “They are also certainly selling vehicles in other countries that do. [Auto manufacturers] simply don’t wish to incur the costs for every vehicle.”
Yet, the Alliance’s Bozzella has labeled FMVSS 127 a “disastrous” regulation that “will endlessly—and unnecessarily—irritate drivers [and] inflate vehicle prices.” In a somewhat curious assertion, Bozzella also argues that the tougher requirements, which exceed the parallel standard in the EU, “won’t fundamentally advance driver or pedestrian safety.”
Nevertheless, Chase believes the Alliance’s lawsuit is likely to fail. “NHTSA is risk-averse. They prefer everything to be neatly packaged. They would not have introduced this regulation if they thought it could be easily challenged.”
Late last year, NHTSA published studies indicating that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards have saved over 860,000 lives since 1968. Frontal airbags alone are estimated to have prevented more than 50,000 fatalities across a 30-year period, according to the NHTSA.
President Trump has nominated Steven Bradbury as the secretary of transportation. Bradbury, a fellow at the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, was involved in creating Project 2025, a comprehensive proposal for government outlined in over 900 pages that Trump disavowed during his campaign.
Transportation proposals in Project 2025 include relaxing fuel economy standards and diverting highway funding away from pedestrian and cycling projects. The project also advocated for a smaller government and fewer regulations, which may be further propelled by Elon Musk’s initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
It remains uncertain how the Trump administration, the DOT, or DOGE will interact with FMVSS 127, but, as Norton, an author on autonomous driving, states, “If we cannot persuade automakers to embrace vehicle automation for safety, we certainly can’t expect them to take autonomous vehicles seriously.”
