Is the Proposed Federal Standard for Brakes Adequate for Police Patrol Vehicles?

In 1972, the National Bureau of Standards surveyed 530 police departments to determine what was wrong with their patrolcars: 449 departments responded to the survey. Thirty-two percent of the respondents, a plurality, identified brakes as the most dangerous feature, and 36% identified it as the system most in need of standards. Ninety-four percent of the respondents rated their patrolcar brakes excellent to satisfactory at speeds under 70 mph (113 kph), but 25% rated them poor over 70 mph. While the new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 105-75 may improve the brake systems for patrolcars for routine, low speed use with frequent applications, it will be necessary to continue testing patrolcar brakes under severe driving conditions to assure reliability at high speeds.