China and US stay out of brakes scheme

Forty countries led by Japan and the European Union — but not the US or China — have agreed to equip new cars and light commercial vehicles with automated braking systems as soon as next year, a UN agency said on Tuesday. The regulation will require all vehicles sold to have the technology which monitors how close a pedestrian or object is. The system can trigger the brakes if a collision is deemed imminent and the driver doesn’t respond in time. The measure will apply to vehicles at “low speeds”: 60 kilometers per hour (42 mph) or less and only affects new cars sold in the markets of signatory countries. Owners won’t be required to retrofit their cars and trucks on the roads today.