NHTSA's Crash-Test Scores:

With the increasing importance of NHTSA's crash-test scores in guiding consumer car-buying habits, we felt it was about time that we took an in-depth look at the program.

Since the 1965 publication of Ralph Nader's book, Unsafe at Any Speed -- an expose of Chevy Corvair's dismal safety record -- public awareness has been raised about the dangers of driving unsafe cars. Such concerns eventually prompted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a division of the United States Department of Transportation (DOT), to fund crash testing.

The program began in 1979. NHTSA's crash testing was originally very limited in scope. (See the end of this article for our link to full NHTSA crash-test results.)

"The program has always been under-funded," said NHTSA's chief of media relations, Tim Hurd, during a recent telephone interview. "We started out by testing family sedans, and the program has grown from there."

Contrary to popular opinion, NHTSA does not solicit vehicle donations from automotive manufacturers. Fearing that automakers might "stack the deck" and send them what Hurd termed "the armored car model," the agency instead goes to a car lot like a normal consumer and purchases the vehicle from a retail dealership. This insures an average "off-the-line" acquisition. The agency then puts the car through a battery -- to use the term literally -- of tests.

NHTSA crash tests "the most popular makes and models," although the agency occasionally tests "special vehicles," as Hurd called them, which may pose interesting or unusual safety challenges. A redesigned SUV, such as the new Ford Explorer Sport Trac, might be an example of a special vehicle.

The agency will also consider requests from manufacturers to retest certain redesigned vehicles, as well as new vehicles which automakers claim offer advanced or unique safety features. In no case, however, will NHTSA accept vehicle donations from manufacturers.

The crash-test program is known internally at NHTSA as the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). It encompasses, in general, passenger cars, light trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans.

As most consumers know, NHTSA conducts two kinds of crash tests: frontal collision and side collision. As a point of reference, NHTSA estimates that there are over three million "severe" crashes annually, of which approximately 1.6 million are frontal crashes and 800,000 are side crashes.

Frontal Collisions For frontal collision testing, crash-test dummies are placed in the driver and front passenger seats and secured with the vehicle's standard seatbelt. The vehicle is then crashed into a fixed barrier at 35 miles per hour, which, according to NHTSA, is equivalent to a head-on collision between two identical vehicles each moving at 35 mph. The agency cautions that "you can only compare vehicles from the same weight class when looking at frontal crash-protection ratings."

On-board instruments measure the force of impact to each dummy's head, chest and legs. The data is then analyzed to indicate a belted passenger's chances of incurring a serious injury in the event of a crash. "A serious injury," as NHTSA defines it, is one which "requires immediate hospitalization and may be life-threatening." The criteria and ratings are as follows:

Five stars = 10 percent or less chance of serious injury

Four stars = 11-to-20 percent chance of serious injury

Three stars = 21-to-35 percent chance of serious injury

Two stars = 36-to-45 percent chance of serious injury

One star = 46 percent or greater chance of serious injury

Side Collisions The side collision test is a little different. For this one, NHTSA attempts to simulate an "intersection-type" collision. They use a 3,015-pound barrier moving at 38.5 miles per hour into a standing vehicle. The barrier is covered with a compressible material to replicate the front of a car or truck. For some unexplained reason, head injury is not measured in this test, only chest injury. However, because all vehicles are impacted by the same-sized barrier, consumers can compare ratings across different vehicle categories. Here's how it breaks down.

Five stars = 5 percent or less chance of serious injury

Four stars = 6-to-10 percent chance of serious injury

Three stars = 11-to-20 percent chance of serious injury

Two stars = 21-to-25 percent chance of serious injury

One star = 26 percent or greater chance of serious injury

Rollover Ratings With the wildly popular appeal of SUVs, consumers have become more and more concerned about rollover potential.

According to NHTSA statistics, more than 9,500 people are killed annually in rollover accidents, with most of those occurring in SUVs and pickup trucks. NHTSA states, "More than 60 percent of the sport utility vehicle (SUV) occupants and more than 40 percent of pickup truck occupants killed in 1998 died in crashes when the vehicle rolled over, compared to 22 percent for car occupants." So it's a serious problem.

NHTSA presently has no rollover provision in their testing procedures. However, on May 25, U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater announced a proposal to initiate rollover testing procedures beginning with 2001 model cars. Unfortunately, the NHTSA proposal is for a "static" test, with results derived mathematically and not through actual crash testing. On top of that, the results will apparently not be available to consumers at the point of sale.

This proposal has raised protests among a number of consumer advocacy groups and members of the automotive press.

Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen, stated, "Fifteen years ago, a static test might have made sense as a first step. Today it simply doesn't. We need a dynamic test -- that is, a real-world test in which a vehicle is driven on the road." The rollover proposal is pending review, and "testing," whatever that means in this case, should begin by the end of the year.

We trust this gives you a little more insight into NHTSA's crash-testing procedures. The industry has come a long way from lap belts and unsafe vehicles, and cars are much safer now than they were 30 or 40 years ago. More can still be done, though, especially in the rollover area.

Here's the Edmunds.com link for complete NHTSA crash-test ratings, for all makes and models.

We've also placed another NHTSA link, as well as a recent Edmunds.com article about crash-test dummies.