Exploring Public APIs from NHTSA
In addition to downloadable public datasets, NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) also publishes several public APIs. These APIs are made available as part of the Open Government Directive. The APIs cover following topics -
- Make, Model and Parts
- Complaints and Recalls
- Safety Ratings
- VIN Decoding
- Manufacturer and Manufacturing Plant
- Child Safety Seat Inspection Station Locator
- Civil Penalty Payments
Complaint, Recall and Safety Ratings APIs are particularly interesting. For example, it is possible to get all the consumer complaints by calling complaintByVehicle API by specifying make, model and model year. I tried calling this API for 2021 Honda Accord by pasting the following URL in my browser bar -
It returned a JSON response which was not too easy to read -
Once I pasted the response in a JSON viewer, it was easier to see the details like complaint summary, component, date of incident etc. -
Another useful API is recallsByVehicle. I tried following sample call for 2020 Acura RDX by pasting it in my browser bar -
The result shows the NHTSA Campaign Number, Component, Recall Summary, Consequence and Remedy for 2020 Acura RDX -
Similarly it is possible to see safety ratings details by calling SafetyRatings API. I tried it for 2021 Acura RDX. It needs two steps to get the safety rating details.
First step is to find the vehicle id for 2021 Acura RDX -
It returned two vehicle IDs — 15144 for FWD and 15142 for AWD.
In the second step, I used vehicle id 15144 to see safety rating for 2021 Acura RDX SUV FWD by calling SafetyRatings API again -
The JSON result shows the Overall Rating of 5 for this vehicle. More specific details such as Front Crash Rating, Side Crash Rating, Rollover Rating etc. can also be seen. Even the links to the crash test pictures and videos are provided.
Based on the JSON above, the front crash picture is available here while the video can be downloaded here.
There are several other NHTSA APIs that provide a treasure trove of information, all in public domain for no charge. Several automotive use cases are possible with these APIs. Please check the following links for learning more -
