Obama nominates new head of NHTSA

Consumer Reports News: April 10, 2009 05:33 PM

President Obama has nominated long-time safety advocate Charles A. Hurley to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Hurley comes from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), where he has been CEO since 2005.

NHTSA sets safety standards for cars sold in the United States and is also responsible for regulating national average fuel economy standards. Hurley is said to favor much stronger roof strength standards, to prevent vehicle roofs from collapsing on occupants in rollover accidents. At MADD, Charles Hurley advocated that first-time drunk-driving offenders be required to use breathalyzer ignition interlocks.

Prior to MADD, Hurley headed the National Safety Council, a coalition of insurance companies and regulators, where he pushed for increased use of safety belts and air bags. Prior to that, Hurley worked at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the early 1990s.

While his safety credentials run deep, some environmentalists oppose Hurley's nomination because opposed higher fuel economy standards when he was at IIHS, saying they would reduce safety by requiring automakers to sell more small cars.

Hurley's nomination still has to be approved by Congress.

Learn about car safety in "Crash Test 101" and "Rollover 101."

—Eric Evarts