Oz Cars Need Standard Safety Features, Advocates Say

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program and the Australian Medical Assn. are launching a campaign to make new technology standard features in all new cars sold in the country, starting with autonomous emergency braking.

The two organizations are calling on federal politicians to join them.

AMA President Brian Owler says AEB technology saves lives. “If you avoid the crash, you avoid the trauma,” Owler says in a statement.

The groups are unhappy that while AEB is standard on new cars in Europe, Japan, and the U.S., it is a costly option in Australia or not offered at all.

Owler and ANCAP CEO Nicholas Clarke will be joined at the campaign launch by federal legislators from across the political spectrum.