New autos are safer than they’ve ever been, however there’s all the time room for enchancment. The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration lately proposed a brand new rule requiring automakers to equip new fashions with seatbelt warning programs for each entrance and rear passengers.
Whereas many fashions have already got such warnings accessible, solely the motive force seat is at the moment required to sound an alarm. The brand new necessities would prolong to the entrance passenger and other people within the again seat driving in autos with a gross automobile weight score of 10,000 kilos or much less.
Adjustments to the principles proposed by the NHTSA would require a visible warning on automobile startup that lasts at the very least a minute to offer the motive force a standing replace on rear passengers. If a rear belt is unbuckled whereas the automobile is transferring, audio and visible warnings lasting 30 seconds can be required. Related adjustments apply to the entrance seat, although the alarms would final till the passenger buckles.
Whereas they’re not all the time snug, seatbelts save lives. NHTSA’s appearing administrator, Ann Carlson, stated, “In 2021, nearly 43,000 folks misplaced their lives on America’s roads, and half of these in autos have been unbelted. This proposed rule may help scale back that quantity by getting extra to buckle up.”
Seatbelts scale back the chance of deadly accidents in a crash by 55 p.c for passenger vehicles and 74 p.c for vehicles and vans. Entrance-seat passengers scale back their danger by 44 p.c in vehicles and 73 p.c in vehicles and vans. The warnings work, too, and the NHTSA’s proposed guidelines would permit automakers to customise audio and visible alerts to match their branding.
The Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security, which additionally crash-tests new autos, lately up to date its crash requirements to incorporate a side-impact take a look at with considerably extra influence drive. New autos are heavier, particularly electrical fashions and enormous vehicles and SUVs, and the IIHS take a look at protocols have been up to date to align with the present actuality. It additionally needed to retool its testing {hardware} to accommodate a lot heavier autos.
Associated video: