Safer Vehicles
Expand the availability of vehicle systems and features that help to prevent crashes and minimize the impact of crashes on both occupants and non-occupants.
The role of vehicle safety performance in avoiding or mitigating the harm of crashes cannot be overstated. Seat belts and air bags, for example, prevented an estimated 425,000 fatalities in traffic crashes since they were first required through regulatory requirements called the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS).
The next generation of motor vehicles will increasingly have the technology necessary to prevent certain crashes from occurring in the first place and to mitigate harm to those outside of the vehicle when a crash happens. This is particularly important as the proportion of roadway fatalities involving people outside of a vehicle has increased over the past few years.
Deploying Advanced Vehicle Safety Technologies
The deployment of technologies to improve vehicle safety has rapidly accelerated in the last five years. Data from the New Car Assessment Program shows substantial increases over time in the percentage of passenger motor vehicles equipped with advanced driver assistance system technologies.
Improving Commercial Motor Vehicle Safety
Enabling safer vehicles also means employing strategies to improve the safety of the commercial motor vehicles that transport goods and carry thousands of passengers locally and across the country every day.
The data visualization below focuses on large truck safety. View a full-screen version of the visualization on large truck safety.
Through the NRSS, the Department will continue to leverage enhanced motor vehicle safety performance and technologies to improve safety for vehicle occupants and other road users, too.