Changes to Government Crash Rating System Will Mean Fewer Stars

By Jim Greene

Published on April 20, 2010

The federal agency in charge of vehicle crash test ratings recently announced it will toughen its scoring system, because, it says, too many vehicles are getting five stars under the current system. Its goal is to show that not all vehicles at the top of the current ratings are equally safe in the event of an auto accident.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says improvements in crash protection, especially from front end collisions, have increased the number of cars earning five stars under the current system. It says important differences among the top-ranked vehicles are not reflected by simply counting stars.

Agency Hopes to Encourage Continued Safety Improvement

In addition to restoring the meaningfulness of its rankings, the agency hopes to encourage car makers whose products slip in the rankings to continue making safety improvements in order to compete.

New NHTSA testing and scoring procedures to begin next year will drop some vehicles out of the five-star ranking, even though their safety features are unchanged. Car makers and dealers are expected to be kept busy reassuring consumers that the quality of their vehicles has not diminished.

The new system will combine the currently separate ratings for front, rear, and side impact resistance into a single rating. Under the current system, many vehicle ads stress good front impact scores and give less prominence to lower scores for rear and side impact.

Consumer Reports Agrees Changes Will Be Beneficial

The new NHTSA procedures are welcomed by Consumer Reports vehicle test division. A division director called the current system meaningless, because nearly every car can get four or five stars in frontal impact, leading consumers to think all cars are nearly equal in safety.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says cars have steadily become safer, but that more rigorous testing should guarantee that the trend continues, resulting in fewer casualties on the road.

No matter how well your vehicle scored in crash test ratings, you can still be injured in an accident. That's when you need to contact an experienced attorney. You may be eligible for financial compensation for medical expenses, loss of income, and pain and suffering.

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