Auto Accident Testing System to Stay as It Is
The government has decided to maintain the testing and rating system it uses to help the public evaluate new automobiles in head-on collisions despite complaints that the program needs an upgrade.
The decision, to be published today in the Federal Register, calls for keeping the 35-mph test for frontal crashes and the rating procedure “until we have established the sound science necessary to provide a basis for revising the program.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration conducts frontal and side crash tests on vehicles and rates them on a scale of one to five stars -- five stars represents the top score -- to help motorists judge how a vehicle handles a crash or its likelihood of rolling over.
A report by the Government Accountability Office in April said the government’s crash test program, started in 1978, needed upgrades to remain relevant with the growth in popularity of sport utility vehicles and light trucks.
It noted that most vehicles receive four or five stars, making it difficult for the public to compare safety attributes in vehicles. The GAO report also questioned whether the system gives automakers enough incentives to improve vehicle safety.
NHTSA said in making the decision that it would maintain the full-frontal barrier test procedure, the test speed of 35 mph and the current crash test dummies and rating system.
More research was needed, NHTSA said, to establish a new frontal system that complements current safety standards and “drives the market toward improved safety for frontal occupant protection without unintended consequences.”
Potential changes had included increasing the testing speed to 40 mph, adding a variety of dummies to include a petite woman and children and adding another test, such as an offset test that focuses the impact on one side of a vehicle’s front end.
The government also considered changing the rating system to make it more difficult to earn five stars.
Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers, said the industry supported more research and analysis of the data to find ways of improving the system.
