The 5-Star Safety Rating Program that Americans use when buying a new car \u2018fails consumers,\u2019 according to the Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.<\/p>\n
Jennifer Homendy said many life-saving technologies like collision-avoidance was not included in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration\u2019s New Car Assessment Program.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, safety is not only about crashworthiness, but incre\u200b\u200b\u200basingly about crash avoidance,\u201d said Homendy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYet many of these life-saving technologies the NTSB has been recommending for decades are not included in the 5-Star Rating Program. How is it possible that a car in the US with none of the currently available collision-prevention technologies could get a top rating? It\u2019s unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rating system, first introduced in 1979, gave automakers an incentive to continually improve the crashworthiness of vehicles. As a result, most passenger vehicles manufactured today receive top crashworthiness scores.<\/p>\n
But crash-avoidance technologies are not included in the rating system and are not on the window labels found on new cars at the dealership.<\/p>\n