Government to Announce Improved Crash Test Program

The government wants to make improvements to the crash test program for new cars and trucks, offering more guidance to car shoppers who value safety.

The Bush administration plans to announce changes Tuesday to the government's safety ratings, which grade new vehicles on a scale of up to five stars.

The program, started in 1979, has helped accelerate the adoption of safety technologies in new cars and trucks. But some auto safety advocates say most vehicles earn four or five stars on the tests, making it difficult for consumers to compare the safety features of vehicles.

Transportation officials have said they want the ratings to take into account a broad range of collision avoidance technologies and make the crash test results more meaningful for new car buyers.

Automakers and suppliers have pushed for the changes to reflect the benefits of electronic stability control, anti-rollover technology that the government has proposed requiring on all new vehicles beginning in 2012.

For the first time, the upgraded ratings system will factor in the ability of vehicles to guard against upper leg injuries in crashes, according to a person familiar with the proposal. The person was not authorized to speak publicly before the announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Industry officials said the new ratings could take effect as early as the 2010 model year.

Bill Mosley, a Transportation Department spokesman, declined comment on the details of the plan, which is being announced at a Honda Motor Co. dealership in northern Virginia.

The department said in an advisory that Transportation Secretary Mary Peters would outline changes that ''will give consumers more complete safety information when purchasing a new vehicle.''

While air bags, improved vehicle design and advanced technology have helped make vehicles safer since the late 1970s, the government's grading system has offered little distinction among the vehicles.

In 1979, nearly half the new vehicles received one or two stars, the two lowest ratings, but none of the new cars got those scores in 2008. About 95 percent of current vehicles receive four or five stars.

''If everything's a five-star, then consumers have no choices and there's no pressure on manufacturers to improve,'' said Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which conducts its own crash test ratings.

When Peters announced plans to upgrade the system in January 2007, officials said they wanted to maintain the speed of 35 miles per hour for front-end tests and study raising the speed from 38.5 mph for side-impact tests.

Transportation officials also noted that they do not require crash testing at speeds below 25 mph and a ''low-speed rating program could provide opportunities for injury reduction in these ranges.'' About 70 percent of injuries in side crashes occurred at 25 mph or less, the agency said at the time.

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On the Net:

NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program: http://www.safercar.gov