Government enhances its crash test program for 2010

Beginning with the 2010 model year, new vehicle window stickers will feature an overall safety rating that combines frontal, side, and rollover tests, similar to Consumer Reports overall safety rating we have been compiling since 2001. Behind that rating will be several upgrades to the tests and rating processes used by the federal government. Most notably, female crash dummies will be used and a new side pole test will simulate a vehicle striking a tree.

Results from tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) through its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) will be supplemented by a rating to indicate if advanced safety technologies such as electronic stability control (ESC), lane departure warning systems, and forward collision warning systems, are optional or standard equipment. However, the government agency will not rate the effectiveness of individual  devices.

High-impact changes
Changes to the program are warranted to better differentiate the crash performance between vehicles and clearly communicate which cars are safer to car shoppers. Back in 1978 when NHTSA began crashing cars at 35 mph in to a flat barrier and rating them for frontal impact safety. At the time less than 30 percent of the models tested earned four or five stars, or the equivalent, for the front driver. However, for model-year 2007, 98 percent of test vehicles earned four or five stars. Today, it can be  difficult for consumers to differentiate the performance for competing models based on NHTSA data alone.

NHTSA will continue to perform its front crash test at 35 mph using a rigid barrier. The side crash test remains based on a 3,015-pound car traveling at 38.5 mph striking the left side of the car.

These tests are notably different from those conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The IIHS used a frontal-offset test conducted at 40 mph, which simulates a typical head-on crash with another similar car. For the side test, the IIHS uses a 3,300-pound moving barrier that strikes higher up on the tested vehicle to simulate the car being hit on the side at 90 degrees by a typical-height SUV or truck. It is conducted at a lower speed, 31 mph. (See crash tests performed by IIHS.)

A new side-impact pole test has also been included in the NHTSA proposal that simulates a vehicle sliding off the road and hitting a tree or telephone pole. This is a more severe test than the regular NCAP test, but it will only assess the injuries to the driver. As the new side-crash pole test is phased in, most vehicles will meet the test requirements by September 2014. On the road to improving side safety, all new passenger vehicles will meet the head injury requirements of the Institute's moving deformable barrier test by September 2009.

The addition of a small female dummy will enable to the tests to better represent a broad range of body types, specifically addressing women and larger children. In addition, new testing for leg injuries will be done, adding to the injury risk assessment.

Not done yet
Consumers Union, as well as other organizations and automakers, submitted recommendations to NHTSA when comments were solicited on this topic last year. Notably, CU was a proponent for the female crash test dummy, and we supported maintaining the current crash test speeds.

While we are encouraged by the advancements this program will make, there were several suggestions made by CU that did not make the cut and we feel have merit:

• Conduct a dynamic rollover test to assess body structure, seat belt design (including pretension), side-curtain airbags, roof strength, door locks and, and the retention of window glazing, rather than the static roof crush tests.
• Review the implementation of rear-impact tests, like those conducted by the IIHS.
• Consider a manufacturer self-certifying process in which the industry would test and rate its own vehicles and undergo spot checking of their test results by NHTSA. This would operate much like the verification test process used by the IIHS for front crash ratings, and it would accelerate the availability for crash data to consumers.
• Research a rear-visibility rating to address blind zones that put children at risk.
• Work with international safety researchers to develop a pedestrian-friendly rating.

Bottom line
We applaud the efforts made by NHTSA to improve its automobile safety program and the work to be done by the auto industry to address the increasingly stringent safety standards.

In the end, the consumers win. Car safety continues to improve, and a clearer presentation of more-detailed crash-test results and standard safety equipment can empower car shoppers to make better, informed purchase decisions.

—Jeff Bartlett 

Learn more about Car Safety, and view more than 250 crash test videos showing the tests conducted by the IIHS.