Agency
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications
Problem being addressed
The impact of road trauma is significant, causing over 1,000 fatalities per year and costing the Australian economy over $29 billion per year. Light vehicle crashes cause the most fatalities and constitute almost $13 billion of the cost, including around $1.9 billion from crashes involving a light vehicle striking a pedestrian or the rear of another vehicle.
Proposal
This Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) explores options to reduce the instance and associated costs of light vehicle crashes. The analysis indicates the option with the highest net benefit is to mandate Advanced Emergency Braking (AEB) technology for all light vehicles, which is expected to save over 580 lives per year and has an estimated net economic benefit of at least $1 billion per year.
Announcement date
25 October 2021
Announcement
Vehicle Standard (Australian Design Rule 98/00 – Advanced Emergency Braking for Passenger Vehicles and Light Goods Vehicles) 2021 (legislation.gov.au) for AEB systems capable of detecting collisions with other vehicles (C2C AEB) from 1 March 2023 for all new model vehicles and 1 March 2025 for all new vehicles.
Vehicle Standard (Australian Design Rule 98/01 – Advanced Emergency Braking for Passenger Vehicles and Light Goods Vehicles) 2021 (legislation.gov.au) for AEB systems capable of detecting collisions with other vehicles (C2C) and pedestrians (C2P AEB) from 1 August 2024 for all new model vehicles and 1 August 2026 for all new vehicles.
Assessed RIS outcome
Good practice
Assessment Comments
The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) assessment is that the quality of the regulatory impact analysis in the RIS is consistent with good practice. In particular, the RIS provides an excellent level of analytical detail, including a sensitivity analysis, to determine the option with the highest net benefit.
Regulatory burden
$172 million per year