NHTSA Unveils New Tests, New 5-star Safety Rating System for Cars

Aaron Cole
by Aaron Cole

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Tuesday announced significant changes to its tests and rating system for every new car in the U.S. Beginning in 2018, new cars will be rated on a five-star system, in half-star increments (for the first time), and will encompass information from new tests — including front overlap crashes already in use by other safety organizations — and pedestrian impact information.

The proposed changes would place an emphasis on active safety features such as blind spot monitoring and crash avoidance systems. The announcement Tuesday followed a statement last month that the agency would recommend automatic emergency braking on new cars beginning in 2018.

“The changes provide more and better information to new-vehicle shoppers that will help accelerate the technology innovations that saves lives,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.

The proposed changes by NHTSA include a “frontal oblique crash” test similar to tests already used by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The frontal oblique crash would measure the relative safety of a car struck at a 15-degree angle by an object that overlaps 35 percent of the overall car width, on the driver’s side only, according to the proposed rules.

The test mimics the IIHS’s moderate overlap and small overlap crash tests, of which the latter has been particularly onerous for manufacturers to ace.

NHTSA also announced it would test pedestrian safety for new vehicles by measuring head and leg injuries when struck by those vehicles and use new dummies to better measure injuries for drivers and passengers in crashes.

“NHTSA’s 5-Star Safety Ratings program was the first of its kind, and the idea has now spread around the world,” NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind in a statement Tuesday. “Today, we’re adding to that legacy of global safety leadership, ensuring that American consumers have the best possible information about how to protect themselves and their families, and taking a significant step forward in our efforts to save lives and prevent injuries.”


Aaron Cole
Aaron Cole

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  • Old_WRX Old_WRX on Dec 10, 2015

    The question is: How much more inattentive will drivers be with all the nannies that make them feel like they don't need to pay attention to avoid an accident? People, at least in this country, seem to have an attitude that they can be as careless as they want and all the safety features on cars and machinery will keep them from getting hurt. Is it just me or do others find this mentality scary?

    • VolandoBajo VolandoBajo on Dec 10, 2015

      It scares the hell out of me to think that the guy in front of me will be texting like hell, not worrying about the car in front of him, because of AEB. Then the car ahead slows down to make a left turn, and his AEB jams hard to avoid an accident. Now I have to worry about not rear ending him because of his abrupt stop. In most states, the car behind will be the legally responsible party, and the AEB will let the careless driver off the hook. Even if I have AEB, there is a good chance an airbag might go off. I agree with the comment that I want a car that keeps me safe if there is an accident, not a car that thinks it can make better situational judgments than I can, no matter how complex the situation. Get the careless drivers off the road. Don't make it easier for them to be more careless, and to inflict more injuries and panic driving changes on other drivers because of their enhanced carelessness, caused and supported by AEB.

  • Tosh Tosh on Dec 13, 2015

    But red turn signals are still OK? Safety my bottom...

  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
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