NHTSA Administrator Nason: Safer Cars and Roads for the Century Ahead

  Our roadways are safer than ever—vehicle fatality rates are at their lowest levels since 1993, despite huge increases in vehicle miles traveled—but there is more work to be done.  I believe the most promising gains in road safety will come from new crash avoidance technologies—an area where NHTSA’s research engineers are leading the way.  Today the technology exists not only to reduce the severity of a crash, but to prevent it entirely.

Let me tell you a bit about what I see ahead.

Imagine a car with a forward-collision warning system that can detect when the vehicle in front of it has slowed or stopped. This device will help prevent the most common crash—the rear-end collision. Or imagine a car with a road or lane departure warning device that can alert drivers when they stray from their lane. This will be a huge help in combating drowsy driving, a significant issue.  I also picture cars of the future with blind-spot warning systems that can signal to the driver when another vehicle is close. This will be invaluable on our congested interstates, where changing lanes at high speeds is common.

The most promising crash avoidance technology is already rapidly entering America’s fleet, thanks to NHTSA and innovators in the auto industry. This is electronic stability control. ESC is especially useful in reducing rollovers, one of the most deadly types of crashes—especially for our high-off-the-road SUVs. We estimate ESC will save more than 10,000 lives when fully integrated into the fleet, in accord with NHTSA’s regulation, which became final last year. I predict ESC will give us the biggest safety gains since the seat belt!

Highway safety begins with the family choice of a vehicle. NHTSA’s 5-star New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) rates vehicles on crashworthiness  and rollover. To help families choose safe vehicles—new or used—NHTSA will this year strengthen our rating system, with tougher standards and stronger crash avoidance metrics.

The agency is also battling one of the most daunting challenges on America’s roadways: drunk driving. Impaired driving claims more than 15,000 lives a year—more than a quarter of them are under 21. But here again, we’re optimistic. Not only do our high-visability enforcement campaigns carry more punch than ever.  We recently held a summit focused on increasing the use of alcohol ignition interlock systems. Other new alcohol detection systems are now in development through a research partnership with the auto industry. At DOT, we’ll never relent in our efforts to reduce the epidemic of road fatalities that plagues our nation. But we have every reason to be hopeful that we can achieve strong gains in this crucial area.

-Administrator Nicole Nason

Comments

[Harry]

Technology will cut down on dd problem, but can we push to lower the legal BAC limit?
More importantly, what can NHTSA do to raise the fuel economy standard on all vehicles to combat the rising gas prices?

[Lee]

Imagine a community where driving isn't the only option for getting around! The safest thing we could do would be to provide more transportation choices -- you're much less likely to die in a car accident if you're walking. We need to start thinking about transportation and planning as the interrelated issues that they are. We've created a nation where our children have no choice but to drive to school and all of their other daily activities, and then we wonder why so many of them are getting killed on our roads. Maybe the solution isn't just safer cars and stricter license requirements, but also alternatives to driving. We need more options.

[Joe Pedestrian]

The statement that "you're much less likely to die in a car accident if you're walking" is quite WRONG! Pedestrians and bicylcists are at a mich higher risk of being injured or killed than anyone traveling in a car.
Our transportation system, in general, is NOT planned, designed and built to accommodate people who walk or use transit. In many parts of the country there also appears to be a social stigma attached to people who walk or use transit. Except when we walk or bike on weekends in fancy sports gear. Highway Traffic Safety has focused too much on just the safety of occupants in vehicular traffic NOT other types of traffic. NHTSA needs to advocate recent advances in vehicle design that minimizes injuries to pedestrians.

[m]

The safety advances you mention are very impressive. Having had the opportunity to push a car with stability control to its limits on a closed course, I can say that it really does work. It can do an amazing job of saving a vehicle from total loss of control in a bad situation. Even a skilled driver can benefit from this type of system because it has more options at its disposal than the accelerator, brake, and clutch that the driver is limited to. The driver doesn't have the option of braking the left front wheel whenever he wants to. The computer does. Very impressive indeed.

But with that said, I am against making systems like this or any other safety systems mandatory. That is because every one of these systems has downsides. The most obvious downside is the added mass to the vehicle. Making a vehicle heavier increases braking distance, increases fuel consumption, speeds tire wear, increases emissions, and increases the amount of energy that will be imparted upon whatever that vehicle collides with. This is one more way that we punish the most economical motorists on the road: motorcyclists. They just don't have the mass to bounce back that giant SUV that switched lanes on top of them.

Another obvious downside is cost. As more required systems are added, cars become more expensive.

The less obvious downside to required safety equipment is forming barriers to market entry. There are many young designers out there with ideas for cars that burn less fuel and do less damage to our environment. Unfortunately with the regulations already in place, it's extremely difficult for an entrepreneur to bring his ideas to production.

As I said above, these safety systems are wonderful things. I just don't think they should be required. I think that most people want them, and that they will buy the cars that have them. But there are those of us that would prefer a vehicle that didn't carry around all that extra weight. And there are those of us that would like to increase the chances that the vehicle that hits us weighs 2000lbm instead of 8000lbm.

I think there is another solution to safety that would be far more effective. That is improved driver training. I think that most people on the road don't even realize the things they're doing wrong. Not a day goes by that I don't see poor driving that creates a very serious safety hazard. Things like failing to signal before switching lanes or turning, signaling to turn too early, not turning into the nearest lane, and passing on the right are rampant. How many fewer collisions would we have if we just did a better job of teaching people to drive safely? Wouldn't there then be less need for expensive systems to keep us safe in collisions? This approach would protect everyone on the road: car drivers, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians instead of just those in cars.

[Fred Bruhn]

There will always be the human part of the safety equation, and the technocrates will always try to out smart us. Good luck, their valiant efforts do not seem to change our behavior. We need to simply respect each other as we share the roads. How would continued safety training, driver education, and safety awareness improve things? As a motorcyclist I'm always concerned and need to drive defensively, how about the person with the cell phone that doesn't see me? There is no better techology than the human brain, if we would just use it.

[Max]

I agree with M. Training is the key. Let's take a look at a typical driver.
You do through driver training in your state. At the age of 16 are required to take a driving test and a written test to get your license. After that, you never have to take a test behind the wheel again. In my experience, the written tests are simple and anyone can pass them. It's the habits you develop behind the wheel that get you in trouble.
The safety systems are fine, but they also cause laziness. Why turn your head to check your blind spot if your car will do it for you? Why put down the cellphone and pay attention to what's happening in front if you car will do it for you?
My recommendation is an additional training requirement that focuses solely on defensive driving techniques 5-10 years after you first get your license. This gives you lots of experience with the techniques you learned in the first training. Then gives you more techniques in accident avoidance and watching 12 seconds down the road, instead of the bumper in front of you. This training should end with a driving test and additional driving tests should be required every 10 years to make sure you are still using good driving habits.
I took defensive driver training in a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Riders Course when I learned how to ride a motorcycle and I'm following up with an Advanced Riders Course now that I've been riding for 10 years. It's smart and it keeps me safer on the road. If everyone took that kind of responsibility to make themselves safer, we would greatly reduce accidents and fatalities.
I know, people will complain about the costs to the states and to the individuals. How much more are the required safety equipment costing drivers just to buy a vehicle? One course for $300 or $500 would be much cheaper than a $1000-$2000 computerized option added to a vehicle price. Then, instead of your agency focusing on requiring safety equipment in all vehicles, you could focus on curriculum, training and certifying instructors for defensive driving courses. Having a standardized training and instructor qualifications would raise the quality of that training.
Research shows that better training makes you safer. Let's focus some effort there.

[Anna]

I believe another safety issue is painted lane lines. These lines should be painted with fluorescent paint in the event of darkness, rainy days and fog. Individuals would be able to see the lanes and stay inside their lane more often.

[discount auto parts]

I agree. This might help to lessen road accidents.