U.S. Legislators Want Collision-Avoidance Features Included In New Car Ratings

Legislation that has just been proposed in the U.S. House and Senate would require federal auto regulators to include information about collision-avoidance systems in their new car safety ratings. This legislation is being proposed by U.S. Sens. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., and U.S. Reps. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.

The proposal comes just days after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reiterated its call for collision-avoidance systems to be included as standard equipment in new cars, a recommendation that it has been making for several years.

If this new legislation passes, it will require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to integrate “active safety technology” into its 5-star crashworthiness ratings. NHTSA’s program measures the level of safety provided by vehicles in frontal and side crashes and rollovers, and requires the results to be posted on window stickers for new cars. The program does not currently include collision-avoidance systems in its ratings, however, according to NHTSA’s website, it identifies vehicles equipped with features such as electronic stability control, lane departure warning and forward collision warning.

The NTSB stated that only four passenger vehicle models last year included a complete forward collision avoidance system as a standard feature. The NHTSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the legislation from the Detroit Free Press, and neither did the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry group.

The Alliance restated its position earlier this week that consumers should be empowered to determine how their money is spent on collision-avoidance technology, and the government should be left out of it. On the other side, in proposing the legislation, Heller called it “a necessary piece of legislation to ensure American families are well-versed on whether vehicles they are looking to purchase are equipped with the newest, state-of-the-art safety technology. Given recent issues surrounding ignition switch defects, air bag defects and numerous vehicle recalls, this bipartisan-bicameral legislation will help restore consumers’ confidence in the safety of their vehicles.”

Markey made the point that while consumers generally trust what they read on the window stickers of the cars that they purchase, the absence of collision-avoidance technology from the ratings means that they are missing important information.

“Today’s 5-star safety rating system only tells them how safe they are in the vehicle once a crash occurs, ignoring any features like collision warning and automatic emergency braking, that can help avoid that crash in the first place,” said Markey.