A GMC pickup truck is shown for sale at a General Motors dealership in Austin, Texas, in January 2023. Federal regulators are proposing new restrictions on vehicle design to protect pedestrians. Brandon Bell/Getty Images Hide caption
Toggle caption
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is proposing new regulations on vehicle design aimed at reducing the number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured in crashes on U.S. roads.
The proposal, announced Monday, comes as annual pedestrian deaths have increased by more than 75 percent since hitting a low in 2009.
“Roadway fatalities are at a crisis point and are even more severe among vulnerable road users like pedestrians,” NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman said in a statement announcing the proposed rules. “The proposed rules will ensure that vehicles are designed to protect people inside and outside the vehicle from serious injury or death.”
Regulators say the proposal would establish new test procedures to simulate bonnet impacts to the head and performance requirements to minimize the risk of head injuries, which they estimate could save 67 lives each year.
Safety advocates have often criticized NHTSA for focusing only on drivers and passengers inside the car and failing to protect pedestrians and other road users outside, but some of the agency’s harshest critics are praising its latest proposal to harmonize federal auto safety standards with global standards.
“We’re seeing a sharp increase in fatalities on our roads, even more so among vulnerable road users like pedestrians,” said Sophie Shulman of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Rich Pedroncelli/AP Hide caption
Toggle caption
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
“This would bring U.S. standards more in line with developed countries in Europe and Asia, where road death rates are often much lower than in the U.S.,” said Angie Schmidt, author of “Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America.”
Federal lawmakers introduced legislation last month that would require federal standards for hood height and visibility to keep pedestrians and other road users safe.
Traffic accidents and pedestrian fatalities in the United States rose sharply for more than a decade before leveling off last year. The reasons for the increase are complex and may include road and sidewalk design, increased speeding and a corresponding decrease in law enforcement, and larger, heavier vehicles.
Safety advocates say vehicle design also plays a role: Vehicles with high front ends and blunt contours are 45 percent more likely to be fatal in collisions with pedestrians than small cars and trucks, according to a study of real-world crashes by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
“We are pleased to see NHTSA take a step toward mandating vehicle designs that are less dangerous to pedestrians,” said IIHS president David Harkey. “This move is consistent with IIHS’s past recommendations to NHTSA to ensure that all new vehicles provide a minimum level of protection for pedestrians in the event of a crash.”
But the auto industry may not be so welcoming. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an auto industry trade group, said it’s still reviewing the 200-page proposal that NHTSA released on Monday.
“Safety is our top priority,” the industry group said in a statement. “Automakers have voluntarily developed and deployed many crash-avoidance technologies to make roads safer for pedestrians and other road users. We have provided input to NHTSA early in this process and will consider the proposals announced today.”
NHTSA will be accepting public comments on the proposed rules for the next 60 days.
