The roads are about to get a little safer, drivers. Ten major automakers have committed to make automatic emergency braking (AEB) a standard feature on all new vehicles, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) announced today.

The 10 companies — Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo — will iron out the details of implementation in the coming months, including a timeline for making the technology a standard feature.

AEB technologies use on-vehicle sensors such as radar, cameras, or lasers to detect an imminent crash, warn the driver, and engage the brakes if necessary. The technology is designed to prevent rear-end crashes and other incidents that occur when drivers don't apply the brakes in time.

IIHS President Adrian Lund said there's "mounting" evidence that the technology is working. A recent IIHS study, for instance, found that AEB can reduce insurance claims by as much as 35 percent.

"Most crashes involve driver error," Lund said. "This technology can compensate for the mistakes every driver makes because the systems are always on alert, monitoring the road ahead and never getting tired or distracted."

Officials say the move to make AEB a standard feature is a major step towards making crash-prevention technologies more widely available to consumers. Together, the 10 manufacturers included in today's announcement represent 57 percent of U.S. light-duty vehicle sales in 2014.

"We are entering a new era of vehicle safety, focused on preventing crashes from ever occurring, rather than just protecting occupants when crashes happen," U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement. "But if technologies such as automatic emergency braking are only available as options or on the most expensive models, too few Americans will see the benefits of this new era. These 10 companies are committing to making AEB available to all new-car buyers."

Last year, transportation officials said cars under 10,000 pounds must have back-up cameras by May 2018. The DOT also moved ahead with a plan to enable vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication among light vehicles.