The US Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has finalized significant updates to its consumer-facing 5-Star Safety Ratings program.
The NHTSA said the action will improve safety on the nation’s roads by incorporating new advanced driver assistance technologies, adding a crashworthiness pedestrian protection program, and setting a roadmap for future program changes over the next 10 years.
The updated 5-Star Safety Ratings program—known as the New Car Assessment Program, or NCAP—emphasizes several new and emerging safety technologies and vehicle safety features to help protect people both inside and outside a vehicle.
Notable changes to the program provided by this update include:
- The addition of four advanced driver assistance technologies that will enhance crash-avoidance safety: pedestrian automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assist, blind spot warning and blind spot intervention.
- Updated and strengthened testing procedures and performance criteria for advanced driver assistance technologies that are already included in NCAP, such as automatic emergency braking.
- The addition of a crashworthiness pedestrian protection program to evaluate the ability of a vehicle’s front end to mitigate pedestrian injuries and fatalities in vehicle-to-pedestrian impacts.
- Midterm and long-term roadmaps to accommodate future updates amid ongoing research and technological advancements in vehicle safety, including crash avoidance and crashworthiness improvements to protect bicyclists and motorcyclists and an updated rating system.
“Our goal with NHTSA’s 5-Star Safety Ratings program has always been to help consumers choose safer vehicles and to encourage manufacturers to improve vehicle safety,” said NHTSA Chief Counsel Adam Raviv.
“With these NCAP updates, we’re ensuring consumers have more useful and relevant information on the latest safety technologies and that the program keeps up with the pace of technological change and innovation.”
