The Evolution of U.S. Automotive Safety Regulation
A Little History
As much as we might like to think of America as the center of the automotive universe, experimentation with self-propelled vehicles was well underway in France by 1769 (first self-propelled, steam-powered road vehicle built for the French Army), in Scotland in 1832 (electric carriage) and, arguably, the first true automobile powered by an internal combustion gasoline engine: German engineer Karl Benz’ patented “motorwagen” by 1885.
The 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia featured an enormous internal combustion engine built by inventor George Brayton. “Brayton’s Ready Motor” inspired George B. Selden, a reluctant patent attorney and businessman from Rochester, New York, to set about building a smaller, lighter version for which he filed a patent in May 1879. Selden is credited with having patented the first internal combustion engine combined with a carriage.
Shortly thereafter, the fledgling auto industry, led by Henry Ford of Detroit, began its efforts and an American love affair with cars was born.
More Cars = More Laws
· 1901. Connecticut enacts the first statewide traffic laws limiting motor vehicle speeds
· 1910. New York introduces the nation’s first laws penalizing drivers for operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol
· 1930. The tri-color traffic light is introduced in the U.S.
Edward J. Claghorn of New York was granted the first patent for a safety belt in 1885, but his invention was a unique application design for painters or firemen — people needing to be secured while being raised and lowered and attached by hooks to a fixed object.
It wasn’t until the early 1950s that neurologist Dr. C. Hunter Shelden began investigating the relationship between seat belts and the increasing number of head injuries coming through emergency rooms. His investigation implicated the primitive seat belt designs in these injuries and deaths. He published his findings in the 1955 Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in an article in which he not only recommended retractable seat belts, but also recessed steering wheels, reinforced roofs, roll bars, door locks and passive restraints such as airbags.
Auto manufacturers Nash and Ford had offered seat belts as options, but once the Saab GT 750 was introduced at the New York Motor Show in 1958 with safety belts as standard equipment, the practice became commonplace.
Thanks in large measure to Dr. Shelden’s work, in 1959, Congress passed legislation requiring all automobiles to comply with certain safety standards.
After a motor vehicle accident that forced quick action to restrain his young daughter, industrial engineer John W. Hetrick was inspired to devise an inflatable ‘cushion assembly’ to be mounted on the passenger dash area and designed to deploy upon the sudden stop or impact of the vehicle. He patented his invention — the air bag — in 1953.
Safety Requires Comprehensive Oversight
The increasing volume of traffic, increased speeds and a lack of government oversight of automotive manufacturing contributed to an alarming increase in motor vehicle accidents and fatalities on our nation’s highways. In 1965, young attorney and consumer advocate, Ralph Nader, published “Unsafe at Any Speed,” a scathing indictment of the American auto industry and its unsafe products. Highway accidents claimed 50,000 lives in 1965 and in June, 1966, the U.S. Senate passed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act; along with that legislation, the Senate appropriated some $465 million over three years for state and city traffic safety programs to include driver education and licensing, auto inspections, highway designs and traffic law enforcement — both of which President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the following September.
Also in 1966, Congress created the U.S. Department of Transportation with the mission of “…ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system meeting our vital national interests and enhancing the quality of life of the American people…”
Passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act established an agency under the Executive Branch of the U.S. government that would set safety standards for all new motor vehicles beginning with the 1968 model year. That agency? The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration www.nhtsa.gov of the Department of Transportation (DOT).
Safety First
NHTSA is tasked with the daunting challenge of keeping drivers and passengers safe on America’s roadways — reducing injuries, deaths and economic losses caused by motor vehicle accidents.
For decades, NHTSA has overseen the integration of lifesaving technologies such as seat belts, child safety seats and air bags into new vehicle regulation and production. NHTSA is often confused with and overshadowed by its more flamboyant cousin, the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board); unlike NHTSA, the NTSB is separate from the DOT and investigates aircraft, railroad, marine, pipeline and hazardous materials (HAZMAT) incidents. The results of these investigations often drive new safety recommendations to, among others, NHTSA.
As mentioned, the first Federal Safety Standards for cars became effective January 1, 1968. The new standards help protect drivers against unreasonable risk of crashes or injuries resulting from the design, construction or performance of motor vehicles. This is accomplished by setting and enforcing safety performance standards for vehicles and equipment. NHTSA also investigates safety defects in motor vehicles, sets and enforces fuel economy standards, promotes the use of seat belts, child safety seats and airbags, investigates odometer fraud, establishes and enforces vehicle anti-theft regulations and provides consumer information on motor vehicle safety topics.
NHTSA Milestones
In 1977, NHTSA created The Star of Life symbol to identify ambulances, emergency medical equipment, patches or the apparel worn by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers.
In 1978, NHTSA began testing and rating vehicles for frontal impact protection using data from crash test dummies.
1984 saw New York State pass the first U.S. law requiring seat belt use in passenger cars.
Also in 1984, Congress enacts the Motor Vehicle Theft Law Enforcement Act in order to reduce the incidence of motor vehicle thefts and facilitate the tracing and recovery of stolen vehicles and their parts.
One of the most memorable and popular public service advertisements in history was NHTSA’s 1985 introduction of Vince and Larry, the iconic Crash Test Dummies, with the unforgettable campaign tagline: “You Could Learn a Lot From a Dummy,” designed to promote seat belt use.
Armed with safety information on frontal, side and rollover crash tests beginning in the 1970s, NHTSA rolled out its 5-star program in 1993 to help consumers make informed safety choices when buying motor vehicles: one star is the lowest safety rating — five, the highest.
1998 saw all 50 states and the District of Columbia embrace Zero Tolerance Laws for drivers under 21 who operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .02 grams per deciliter or more.
John Hetrick’s 1953 air bag invention inspired the Intermodal Surface Efficiency Act of 1991 that finally went into effect September 1, 1998–45 years after it was introduced to all the major motor vehicle manufacturers of the day. The law requires that all cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. have air bags on both sides of the front seat.
Researchers estimate that air bags reduce the risk of dying in a head-on collision by 30%, and they agree that the bags have saved more than 10,000 lives since the late 1980s. Today, they are standard equipment in almost 100 million cars and trucks.
In 2003, NHTSA’s “Click It or Ticket” campaign went national and remains a theme today. This seat belt enforcement program continues efforts to increase seat belt use in all 50 states.
NHTSA subsequent programs and legislation have endeavored to keep pace with technological advancements that both enhance and obstruct safety. Improvements to the 5-star program to include on-line searches for recall and updated safety data provide opportunity for more informed consumers. Communications advancements such as smart cell phones, GPS, satellite radio and onboard movie streaming walk the line between safety and distraction.
Challenges for NHTSA
While NHTSA fights the good fight to manage transportation safety, studies suggest that the U.S. lags behind other countries in driver safety due to several factors.
David Millward of The Telegraph quotes Bruce Hamilton, research manager with the American Automobile Association Foundation for Transport Safety, as saying “In terms of safety culture, we lag behind Europe.” He wants using a mobile phone or texting at the wheel to become as socially unacceptable as drunk driving, suggesting it would create a political will to change the law. Hamilton also cites the country’s road infrastructure itself; “Many of our highways were built in the 1940s and 1950s when there was far less traffic, which was moving far slower than today.”
Speed and alcohol remain the biggest killers on American roads. Russ Rader of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety believes the absence of speed cameras along roadways in rural or sparsely populated areas contributes to unusually high death rates. Rader says “We have been much more lax in enforcing limits than in other industrialized countries. We are also seeing speeds increasing to a level we have never seen before, with one toll road in Texas setting an 85 mph limit!”
And citing what may be NHTSA’s most challenging hurdle yet, Kara Macek, communications director at the Governors Highway Safety Association, suggests that American motor vehicle safety may find itself at odds with individual rights. “I think Americans tend to have a civil liberties view of things,” she commented. “There are states where there are strong feelings against seat belt and motorcycle helmet laws. There is a whole issue of what is seen as the nanny state.”
New Hampshire, the “Live Free or Die” state, has no legal requirement to use seat belts; another 16 states impose only small fines and then only if the driver is stopped for another offense. In spite of more than 3,000 people killed as a result of “distracted driving” accidents, only 12 states have banned the use of a handheld mobile device at the wheel while seven states still allow texting at the wheel.
Indeed, the culture that individual rights trump public safety may prove NHTSA’s greatest challenge yet. Stay tuned.
Alkane thanks David Millward of The Telegraph for his research cited here and to www.nhtsa.gov.
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