WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday that it will delay implementation of updates to the U.S. government's New Car Assessment Program finalized in December after a request by automakers.

The agency last year said it was adding blind spot warning, blind spot intervention, lane-keeping assist and pedestrian automatic emergency braking and updating its automatic emergency braking requirements effective in the 2026 model year that starts this month. NHTSA said it was delaying requirements until the 2027 model year after a group representing nearly all major automakers in April said the agency had failed to publish test procedures for evaluating crashworthiness pedestrian protection.