NHTSA
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
| NHTSA NEWS | LEGISLATION | CU and NHTSA | NHTSA DOCUMENTS |
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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has proposed a rollover ratings system using one to five stars--five being the best--for all passenger vehicles and light trucks. Consumers Union had petitioned NHTSA for such a program and consumer disclosure in 1996. NHTSA's findings would be calculated using the vehicle's center-of-gravity height and its track width, the distance between the centers of the tires. This is a "static" measure. Consumers Union's auto experts have said that rollover ratings should be based on a "dynamic" test--how the vehicles do in maneuvers that evaluate their ability to handle evasive actions a driver might confront in a real-world emergency. |
NHTSA News
| 2004 Fatalities 04/21/05
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NHTSA Legislation
| Safety Bill Passes Committee In June of 2003, the Senate Commerce Committee passed legislation that includes numerous provisions that require NHTSA to test and set standards in roof crush, compatability and rollover. Here is a link for the pertinent text of that legislation. 10/20/03 |
| NAS/TRB Committee For The Study Of A Motor Vehicle Rollover Rating System: Comments On Consumer Information Issues Comments by R. David Pittle, Ph.D., CU Senior Vice-President & Technical Director regarding The Study Of A Motor Vehicle Rollover Rating System Read the full testimony here. 04/11/01 |
| House Committee Approves Auto-Rollover Ratings Based On Driving Tests A House committee has approved what would be the first-ever federal rollover ratings for vehicles based on driving tests. The legislation gives the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) two years to develop a driving test that would produce scores ranking cars, sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), pickups, and minivans for rollover risk. Read the full press release. 10/05/00 |
NHTSA and Consumers Union
| NHTSA Heads Visit CU Auto Test Division On November 11, 2003 NHTSA Administrators toured the CU Auto Test Division. Read more.
12/15/03 |
| CU Comments to NHTSA on Rollover Resistance Consumers Union concurs with the approach NHTSA has taken, in particular that it is adopting a combination or suite of tests that includes dynamic rollover tests - one with a reverse steer maneuver - handling tests (proposed), and the Static Stability Factor to estimate inherent stability. Read the complete comments here. 11/21/02 |
| CU Pleased That NHTSA Has Proposed Help For Consumers On Vehicle Rollover Problem In response to a 1996 petition from Consumers Union (CU), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced today that the agency will put in place a five-star ratings program that compares the relative stability of new motor vehicles. Read full text of the press release 05/25/00 |
NHTSA Documents
| CU Supports NHTSA's New Vehicle Rollover Resistance Tests CU urges the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to release detailed test information to the public so that consumers can discriminate between different models and make smarter and safer car-buying decisions. 10/27/03 |
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The 2 images of test vehicles at the top of this page (center) are from
NHTSA rollover test video.