Life-saving safety tech to become law in 2029

New cars will have to be fitted with expanded autonomous safety technology from 1 March 2028, in a bid to address a major cause of crashes and fatalities.

Recently announced federal legislation will mandate almost every new car on Australian roads be equipped with lane keep assist technology as well as advanced autonomous emergency braking capabilities.

The lane keep assist technology will be required to be able to automatically steer a vehicle back within the chosen lane if it detects the vehicle is moving out of its lane unintentionally.

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems on new vehicles will also be required to detect and brake for cyclists. This requirement will be introduced at the same time.

Research from Melbourne’s Monash University Accident Research Centre has found 42 per cent of road crashes and 55 per cent of all resulting fatalities, surveyed between 2013 and 2019, were the result of collisions caused by drivers unintentionally straying from their lane.

The legislative changes, introduced after more than a year of public consultation, will apply to every new vehicle model being introduced on the Australian market from 1 March 2028.

From March 1, 2029, the rules will also apply to new sales of existing models.

The new laws will apply to passenger cars, SUVs, utes and vans with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) below 3.5 tonnes.

That’s almost every new road-going vehicle sold in Australia from March 1, 2029, including a Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger.

However, full-sized commercial vehicles from the next segment up, such as the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series, or big American pickups such as the Toyota Tundra, Ram 1500, Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado, will be exempt.

Further, a mid-sized van such as the Toyota HiAce or Mercedes-Benz Vito must comply, but not the larger Renault Master or Mercedes-Benz Sprinter.

The updated requirements for both lane keeping and cyclist detections were formulated with the help of the Monash University data, are in line with the United Nations stipulations on AEB and emergency lane-keeping regulations.

Since the Monash data was collected, lane-keeping systems have become increasingly common, but are not yet fitted as standard in cheaper new vehicles.

Meeting the new rules should be relatively straightforward for vehicle manufacturers and importers in Australia, given they align with laws already in force in Europe and elsewhere.

Euro NCAP’s stipulation that all ADAS-related tech must operate without undue distraction or complication bodes well for Australians who are concerned they may be saddled with poorly developed, intrusive variations of these technologies.

In other words, annoying warning sounds and disruptive steering-wheel tugs often associated with ADAS systems not tuned for European or Australian roads, as found in almost all current vehicles from China, must also function within those set parameters introduced this year.

It’s worth noting that when laws requiring the standard fitting of autonomous emergency braking functions were introduced at the beginning of 2025, it did force some older yet popular vehicles to be discontinued, including the original Mitsubishi ASX.

Whether either of the new rules end up doing the same remains to be seen.