Perhaps you know someone in Augusta who owned a vehicle with a five-star crash test rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and yet suffered serious injuries in a car crash. Sadly, this is not unusual. Some say that NHTSA’s car safety rating system is becoming outdated and that, as a result, cars may not be as safe as their ratings suggest.
History of the rating system
NHTSA began crash testing vehicles in the 1970s as part of the New Car Assessment Program. Two decades later, the five-star safety rating system emerged from this program. The ironic thing is that one of the more recent critics of this rating system is the former leader in the development of NCAP.
Deficiencies in the system
This individual published a report in October 2019 saying that the U.S. is lagging behind in regard to crash testing. Europe, for instance, tests its vehicles four times as much as the U.S. before rating its safety level.
She also states that NHTSA should add ratings for new vehicle safety technology like automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection. NHTSA, for its part, has made promises to this end and even expressed its intention to make crash dummies that more accurately represent drivers and passengers. However, a lack of funding and “political will” seem to be preventing these changes from taking place.
A lawyer for an honest opinion
If you’ve been injured in a car accident through little or no fault of your own, you have a good chance of filing a claim and being reimbursed for medical bills, vehicle repairs and other losses. It may take a lawyer, though, to achieve a fair amount in damages. That’s why one of the early steps will be getting a legal evaluation.
