Federal Traffic Safety Programs: An Overview


Road Safety tips to protect yourself when you drive, ride and walk:.

Understanding the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Risky Driving choices that cause deaths and injuries;. And the latest in vehicle Technology and Innovation. NHTSA conducts research on how vehicle improvements and other technological advances can better protect people in a crash crashworthiness and reduce the likelihood of crashes crash avoidance. NHTSA works to keep vehicles and certain vehicle equipment with safety-related defects off our roads. We do this by monitoring fatality, injury and property damage reports and investigating consumer complaints.

NHTSA can also be petitioned to undertake an investigation into an alleged safety defect. If NHTSA investigates a defect and finds a safety-related defect the agency ask the manufacturer to conduct a recall. If the manufacturer does not conduct a recall, NHTSA may issue an initial decision that a safety-related defect exists.

Manufacturer must notify vehicle or equipment owners, dealers, distributors and fix the problem free-of-charge to owners by repairing, replacing, or repurchasing the vehicle or piece of equipment in question. New York State enacted the first seat belt laws in All States except New Hampshire enacted laws by The passive motor vehicle restraints rule, which requires all vehicles to be equipped with seat belts took effect with model year By seat belt use across the United States reached an all-time high rate of 87 percent.

The year-old minimum drinking age laws were achieved nationwide in and nationwide zero-tolerance drunk driving laws for drivers under 21 were achieved in In , the first national media campaign to fight drunk driving was launched. In the following decade, as a result of the laws, high-visibility enforcement, and media efforts, drunk driving fell 23 percent. Five-Star Safety Ratings were offered in to help consumers compare ratings and safety features of new cars and trucks.

October 4, 2017 meeting of the Driver Training and Traffic Safety Advisory Committee

Research and Rulemaking efforts are underway to update the NCAP program to accommodate emerging vehicle safety technologies. Department of Transportation on October 15, Since then, automobiles have become far better in protecting their occupants in vehicle impacts. The number of deaths on American highways hovers around 33, annually, [9] a lower death rate per vehicle-mile traveled than in the s.

Sticky accelerator pedal problem. The agency has introduced a proposal to mandate Electronic Stability Control on all passenger vehicles by the model year.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration | US Department of Transportation

This technology was first brought to public attention in , with the Swedish moose test. In , under the auspices of the United Nations , a consortium called the Economic Commission for Europe had been established to commonize vehicle regulations across Europe so as to standardize best practices in vehicle design and equipment and minimize technical barriers to pan-European vehicle trade and traffic.

This eventually became the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations , which began to promulgate what would eventually become the UN's ECE Regulations on vehicle design, construction, and safety performance. Many of the world's countries accept or require similar standards to the U.

S blocks the importation of vehicles that do not meet the higher U. Because of the unavailability in America of certain vehicle models, a gray market arose in the late s. This provided an alternate, legal method to acquire vehicles only sold overseas. The success of the gray market, however, ate into the business of Mercedes-Benz of North America Inc.

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By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The agency classifies most of its spending under the driver safety heading, with a minority spent on vehicle safety, and a smaller amount on environmental matters of which it is in charge, i. This cost is separate from costs incurred in other markets around the world. Retrieved 5 December Many countries have since been adopted regulations similar to those of the U. Driver and passenger side air bags were required in cars and light trucks by model year NHTSA works to keep vehicles and certain vehicle equipment with safety-related defects off our roads.

In practice the gray market involved a few thousand luxury cars annually, before its virtual elimination in In , NHTSA exempted vehicles older than 25 years from the rules it administers, since these are presumed to be collector vehicles. However, the ban on newer vehicles considered safe in countries with lower vehicle-related death rates has led some to claim that the main effect of NHTSA's regulatory activity is to protect the U.

This site provides information to assist State and Federal professionals to manage highway safety grant programs administered by the National Highway Traffic. NHTSA's Office of Regional Operations and Program Delivery (ROPD) administers over $ million in grant programs annually to the 50 States, the District of.

It has been suggested [13] that the impetus for NHTSA's seeming preoccupation with market control rather than vehicular safety performance is a result of overt market protections such as tariffs and local-content laws having become politically unpopular due to the increasing popularity of free trade. This has driven U.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

NHTSA disapproved the SM due to its high-performance, low-glare, steerable headlamps which were not of the outmoded sealed beam design mandatory in the U. Additional federal vehicle standards are contained elsewhere in the CFR. For instance, 49CFR contains the specifications and requirements for the various types of replaceable headlamp "light source" bulb. A system of auto safety performance and equipment regulations ECE Regulations has been in place in Europe since Many countries have since been adopted regulations similar to those of the U.

Vehicles sold in the U.

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The North American auto market includes most of the world's major automakers and is the world's most profitable for automakers. American vehicle equipment and construction regulations are based on the rigorous Society of Automotive Engineers SAE standards.

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Research on the trends in use of heavy vehicles indicate that a significant difference between the U. A study by the U. Transportation Research Board found that SUVs and pickup trucks are significantly less safe than passenger cars.