- The federal government has delayed new car safety rules meant to reduce pedestrian and blind-spot accidents
- Automakers asked for the delay after the agency failed to publish testing procedures
The federal government’s primary car safety watchdog has delayed several rules that were meant to take effect for the 2026 model year.
They include a new “head-to-hood test” that would measure how a car is likely to hit a pedestrian in an accident, the first test evaluating whether the automatic emergency braking systems automakers advertise actually work, and tests of blind-spot warnings and lane-keeping systems.
Reuters explains that “the agency said it will delay the stringent new rules until the 2027 model year after a group representing nearly all major automakers in April said the agency had failed to publish pedestrian crash test procedures.”
Automakers say they can’t engineer systems to meet a standard they can’t first read.
The shift comes after several Trump administration moves that lightened regulation on automakers. The Department of Transportation stopped enforcing longstanding fuel economy rules, and the Environmental Protection Agency dropped the policy that allowed it to regulate tailpipe emissions.
However, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says it still intends to enact the safety rules, just later than planned.
In a statement published in the Federal Register (a daily update of all government actions), the agency said all planned tests and standards “will be implemented for model year 2027 vehicles.”
