Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) is currently available on almost all Subaru->ke86 models as optional equipment, but come 2022, that technology->ke1701 will become standard on all of the company’s models. That was the pledge made by Subaru, along with 19 other automakers, to include the technology on all of its models lines by 2025.

Subaru made the commitment to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in response to increasing calls to have safety->ke2860 features become standard instead of being labeled as optional equipment. The AEB technology is unique because the system can act on its own and apply the brakes in the event the driver doesn’t take action early enough to prevent a crash. It has even been determined through numerous tests that it can significantly reduce the severity of a crash->ke277 or prevent it completely. According to the NHTSA, standard AEB systems could reduce rear-end crashes by as much as 40 percent by 2025.

Subaru, for its part, promised to have AEB standard on its models three years ahead of the NHTSA’s suggested timetable, which the agency believes would be the earliest it could actually implement a regulatory requirement for the system. Hopefully, Subaru and the all the other automakers who made this pledge come through on this promise.

Continue after the jump to read the full story.

Why it matters

I wholeheartedly agree with what U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said. It’s about time that the industry as a whole did something in the best interest of customer and vehicle safety. If anything, emergency braking systems on cars should have been made standard by now, or at the most, earlier than the NHTSA’s suggest 2025 timetable. But I’m not going to complain now because if Subaru and the rest of the automakers that made this pledge are true to their word, then it should be, as Secretary Foxx said, a “win for safety and a win for consumers”.

There comes a point in them wherein things like consumer safety should take precedence over the business side of the industry. I’m happy that a lot of companies are beginning to feel the same way. Let’s just hope that these pledges remain true for all those parties involved.

Subaru Legacy

Read our full review on the Subaru legacy here.