Automatic brakes to become mandatory for new domestic cars from Nov. 2021
The Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Ministry has announced that it will require automatic brakes to be installed on new automobiles produced in Japan in November 2021 and later.
The ministry will make it mandatory to install the automatic brakes on imported new cars from around June 2024. It plans to apply for public comments on the issue and revise related regulations in January 2020.
Newly imposing on automobile manufacturers a qualifying test for automatic brakes that meets stricter standards, the ministry intends to make efforts to reduce accidents mainly caused by elderly drivers.
Mindful of international standards on advanced emergency braking systems taking effect in January next year, the ministry will seek the following functions for automatic brakes:
- When an automobile running at a speed of 40 kph approaches a parked car, it will be prevented from hitting it.
- When an automobile running at a speed of 60 kph approaches from behind another car running at a speed of 20 kph, it will be prevented from hitting it.
- When an automobile running at a speed of 30 kph comes close to pedestrians crossing a road at a speed of 5 kph, it will be prevented from hitting them.
Automatic brake systems detect automobiles and people with a combination of cameras and radar to prevent or reduce collision damage. The percentage of new cars equipped with automatic brakes by domestic manufacturers was 84.6% as of 2018.