The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing updates to its flagship vehicle safety consumer information program, the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) to include pedestrian protection. NHTSA is issuing a request for public comment on new pedestrian crashworthiness tests that measure how well vehicles protect those outside the vehicle, […]
U.S. Pedestrian Deaths Projected to Have Risen Yet Again in First Half of 2022
Dangerous driving, inadequate infrastructure and larger vehicles lead to deadly conditions for people walking, with one death every 75 minutes. Drivers in the United States struck and killed 3,434 people in the first half of 2022 – up 5%, or 168 more deaths, from the same period the year before, according to a new analysis […]
IIHS Finds Few Vehicles Excel in New Nighttime Pedestrian Autobrake Test
More than half of the 23 vehicles tested earned basic score or no credit in test. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is introducing a nighttime test of pedestrian automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems to address the high percentage of pedestrian crashes that occur on dark roads. Four of the first 23 midsize cars, midsize […]
AAA Reports Consumer Skepticism Toward Autonomous Driving Features Justified
Research indicates driving assistance technology continues to underperform. In AAA’s latest survey of attitudes about automated vehicles, drivers overwhelmingly want automakers to improve the performance of existing driver support features rather than develop self-driving cars. And this desire is backed by another round of AAA testing that reveals inconsistent performance remains a problem with available […]
U.S. Pedestrian Deaths Jumped in First Half of 2021
Dangerous driving, inadequate infrastructure, larger vehicles combine to create deadly results for people on foot. A new analysis from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) projects that U.S. drivers struck and killed 3,441 pedestrians in the first six months of 2021, up 17% – or 507 additional lives lost – from the same period the […]
IIHS and HLDI Call on Regulators to Require Pedestrian AEB that Works in the Dark
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) this month petitioned federal regulators to require manufacturers to equip all new passenger vehicles with automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems capable of detecting and avoiding pedestrians in the dark as well as in daylight. Both a HLDI analysis of insurance claims […]
NHTSA to Allow Adaptive Driving Beam Headlights on New Vehicles
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a final rule allowing automakers to install adaptive driving beam headlights on new vehicles. This satisfies a requirement in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law more than a year and a half ahead of schedule. Adaptive driving beam headlight systems, or ADB, use automatic headlight beam […]
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Includes New Vehicle Safety Provisions
This week, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. The president’s signature was the culmination of months of negotiation over the bill, which totals $1.2 trillion and includes $550 billion in new money for the nation’s infrastructure. According to an analysis by the Automotive ServicefAssociation (ASA), the legislation will make […]
States Step Up Efforts to Protect Pedestrians Amid Surge in Unsafe Driving During Pandemic
As the number of pedestrians struck and killed by drivers continues a decade-long trend in the wrong direction during the pandemic, the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) and its State Highway Safety Office (SHSO) members are marking the second annual National Pedestrian Safety Month this October by taking steps to address the behavioral safety issues […]
Pedestrian Deaths Soar in 2020 Despite Drop in Driving During Pandemic
Projected fatality rate for people walking spiked 21% for largest ever year-over-year increase as dangerous driving and traffic violence plagued U.S. roads. New data from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) projects that 2020 had the largest ever annual increase in the rate at which drivers struck and killed people on foot. What drove this […]