The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said in a release today it may create new ratings aimed at older occupants, rear-seat passengers, pedestrians and electric vehicles. The safety regulator is planning to update its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) and is considering a "silver" rating that would assess safety of the vehicle for older occupants, and a "family" rating for how well it protects rear-seat passengers, including children.
"It can't be a static notion," NHTSA Administrator David Strickland told reporters today after a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington. "We always have to look at ways we can improve the margin of safety." The release noted "In 2013, we plan to conduct focus group testing to determine if consumers would like alternative methods of having advanced technology information communicated and if ratings of advanced technologies, rather than the current approach of recommending advanced technologies, are preferred," the notice says.
Significance: Advanced driver awareness systems (ADAS) are proliferating among automakers and a measurement as to the impact of these devices in collision avoidance/mitigation would be welcomed by the manufacturers. The task is nevertheless an onerous one, as the main purpose of many advanced safety features is to alert the driver to dangerous conditions, and/or intervene to prevent a crash from occurring. The driver influenced reaction is clearly less measurable. The move to assess the impact on older occupants is interesting and a unique take on the impact of the world's aging population. Europe's NCAP has already had pedestrian safety requirements in force for some years, which require deformable collision structures built into the frontal areas of new vehicles. Manufacturers typically use the test ratings in their marketing.
