NHTSA Finalizes ‘Significant’ Updates to Its 5-Star Safety Rating Program

NHTSA Finalizes 'Significant' Updates to Its 5-Star Safety Rating Program

Short dive:

  • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Monday announced several changes to its 5-Star Safety Rating program that the agency says will spur technology adoption and strengthen pedestrian safety.
  • As part of the updates, the agency added four advanced driver assistance systems to its evaluation checklist, committed to implementing a crash-resistant pedestrian protection program, and finalized its roadmap for further changes in the next decade.
  • The agency will begin using the revised criteria starting with evaluations of new 2026 model year vehicles, according to the official notice.

Diving information:

Achieving the coveted 5-star safety rating from the NHTSA can help automakers boost sales of some models, but the updated program will require automakers to add additional safety technology to their vehicles to receive higher ratings high.

Specifically, new vehicles will need to include four key driver assistance technologies designed to reduce pedestrian injuries:

  • Automatic emergency braking for pedestrians
  • Lane keeping assistance
  • Blind spot warning
  • Blind spot surgery

They will also have to pass more rigorous crash test evaluations, which include rollover, frontal and side impacts. The updated program will evaluate the ability of a vehicle’s front end to mitigate pedestrian injuries and fatalities.

The updated 5-Star safety program aligns with a series of actions taken by the Biden administration over the past four years to reduce long-term traffic fatalities.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill required NHTSA to add pedestrian safety criteria to tests of new vehicles. And in January 2022, the Department of Transport unveiled its “National Road Safety Strategy” to address the increase in road fatalities and serious injuries to pedestrians caused by inattentive drivers.

“Today’s action represents another important step in addressing the crisis on our roadways and achieving the Department’s ambitious long-term goal of zero traffic fatalities,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in the release.

In addition to introducing new technologies, NHTSA also strengthened testing procedures and performance criteria for advanced driver assistance systems already included in the rating program, such as automatic emergency braking.

In May, the NHTSA finalized a rule requiring automakers to offer automotive emergency braking and pedestrian braking as a standard safety feature on nearly all light-duty vehicles sold in the United States by 2029.

“Like our move earlier this year to make automatic emergency braking standard on new passenger cars and light trucks, these changes to 5-star safety ratings will accelerate the adoption of technologies that reduce the frequency and severity of accidents by helping consumers make informed decisions. about buying a new car,” Buttigieg said.

The 5-Star rating system was introduced into the New Car Assessment Program in 1993 by NHTSA. The agency began frontal crash tests on vehicles using dummies years earlier: in 1978.

The ratings are designed to help car shoppers make a more informed decision when purchasing a vehicle. Models with higher NCAP ratings are typically more attractive to safety-conscious consumers, but achieving a 5-star safety rating also serves as a valuable marketing tool for automakers.

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