New Car Assessment Program Final Decision Notice-Crashworthiness Pedestrian Protection

<NOTICE> DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION <SUBAGY>National Highway Traffic Safety Administration</SUBAGY> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. NHTSA-2024-0078]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>New Car Assessment Program Final Decision Notice—Crashworthiness Pedestrian Protection</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA or the Agency), Department of Transportation (DOT). <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Final decision notice. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> This final decision notice adds a crashworthiness pedestrian protection program to the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) to evaluate new model year vehicles' abilities to mitigate pedestrian injuries. Based on its previous research, NHTSA concurs with and adopts most of the European New Car Assessment Programme's (Euro NCAP) pedestrian crashworthiness assessment methods, including the injury limits for test devices and the score calculation method used for impact points. NHTSA will identify new model year vehicles meeting a certain minimum safety threshold on the Agency's website and other published literature. This notice responds in part to the provisions in Section 24213 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which requires NHTSA to incorporate measures in NCAP for evaluating the protection that new vehicles provide vulnerable road users like pedestrians. </SUM> <DATES> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> These changes to the New Car Assessment Program are effective for the 2026 model year. </DATES> <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For technical issues, you may contact Ms. Christina Smith, New Car Assessment Program, Office of Crashworthiness Standards (Telephone: (202) 366-1810). For legal issues, you may contact Ms. Natasha D. Reed or Mr. Matthew Filpi, Office of Chief Counsel (Telephone: (202) 366-2992). You may send mail to either of these officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE, West Building, Washington, DC 20590-0001. </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <EXTRACT> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">I. Executive Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Legal and Policy Considerations</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. 2022 U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) National Roadway Safety Strategy (NRSS)</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">II. Summary of Updates to NCAP</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">III. Background</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Adopted Testing Devices</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Adopted Test Procedures</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Adopted Component Scoring Method</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Adopted Procedure for Manufacturer-Submitted Data</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Verification Testing Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">F. Adopted Vehicle Scoring Apportionment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IV. Summary of General Comments on Proposed NCAP Updates</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">V. RFC Comments and Agency Decision</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Test Zone and Markup</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. RFC Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Comments Received</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Discussion and Agency Decision</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Test Devices</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. RFC Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Comments Received</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Discussion and Agency Decision</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. Test Procedure</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. RFC Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Comments Received</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Discussion and Agency Decision</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. Data Acquisition and Reporting</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. RFC Summary</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Comments Received</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Discussion and Agency Decision</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">E. Other Comments</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Comments Received</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Discussion and Agency Decision</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VI. Procedure in Detail</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">A. Differences From Euro NCAP Tests and Assessment Protocols</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Use of the FlexPLI</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. No FlexPLI Bumper Testing When LBRL Is Greater Than 500 mm</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. FlexPLI Qualification Procedure and Testing</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">4. Bumper Corner Definition</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">5. Active Hood Detection</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">6. WAD Limit</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">7. Self-Reporting System</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">8. NCAP Scoring Apportionment</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">9. Credit Publication Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">B. Injury Limits and Scoring Process</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">1. Headform Tests</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">2. Upper Legform Tests</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">3. Lower Legform Tests</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">C. NCAP Proposal for Awarding Credit</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">D. NCAP Verification Testing</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Conclusion</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">VII. Economic Analysis</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-2">IX. Appendices</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Appendix A: Questions From RFC</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Appendix B: Supplementary Tables</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP1-2">Appendix C: Vehicle Scoring and Verification Testing Example—Passenger Car</FP> </EXTRACT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Executive Summary</HD> The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA) New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) provides comparative information on the safety performance of new vehicles and availability of new vehicle safety features to assist consumers with vehicle purchasing decisions and to encourage safety improvements. NCAP, like many other NHTSA programs, has contributed to significant reductions in motor vehicle related crashes, fatalities, and injuries since its launch in 1978, with annual passenger vehicle occupant fatalities in the United States falling from 32,043 to 26,325 from 2001 to 2021. <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> Unfortunately, this reduction was not universal in all categories of fatalities and injuries with annual pedestrian fatalities increasing by 51 percent during the same time frame, from 4,901 to 7,388. <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> While vehicle-to-pedestrian crashes are not as common as vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, they are significantly more deadly, with an estimated 53 out of 1000 vehicle-to-pedestrian crashes resulting in a pedestrian fatality. <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> In comparison, an estimated 2.6 out of 1000 vehicle-to-vehicle crashes resulted in a fatality. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  Traffic Safety Facts 2021, “A Compilation of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Data.” U.S. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>  Ibid. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  Swanson, E., Foderaro, F., Yanagisawa, M., Najm, W.G., & Azeredo, P. (2019, August). Statistics of light-vehicle pre-crash scenarios based on 2011-2015 national crash data (Report No. DOT HS 812 745). Table ES1—Yearly Average Statistics—Scenario Groups Based on 2011-2015 FARS and GES. Washington, DC. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. </FTNT> Despite improvements in automotive safety since NCAP's implementation, far more work must be done to reduce the continued high toll to human life both in and outside the vehicle on our nation's roads and to encourage safety improvements. NCAP is one of several NHTSA programs that advance the Agency's mission to reduce fatalities, injuries, and economic losses on U.S. roadways. Historically, features rated or otherwise included in NCAP have focused largely on the protection of occupants in motor vehicles. However, NHTSA has also recognized the importance of protecting other vulnerable road users (VRUs), such as pedestrians, from injury and death due to motor vehicle crashes. NHTSA published a request for comments (RFC) notice on May 26, 2023 (May 2023 RFC)  <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> proposing to add a crashworthiness pedestrian protection program to NCAP to help address the rising number of fatalities and injuries to pedestrians. The RFC notice proposed largely adopting the devices and assessment methods used in the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP)  <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> that simulate a pedestrian being struck in the side by a vehicle traveling at 40 km/h (25 mph). However, instead of implementing a comparative rating system for pedestrian protection as Euro NCAP does, NHTSA proposed to initially identify new model year vehicles that meet a specified minimum safety threshold and then transition to a new rating system as discussed later in this section. <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>  88 FR 34366. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU>   <E T="03">https://www.euroncap.com/en.</E> </FTNT> NHTSA received over 2,800 comments on the May 2023 RFC notice. Commenters included vehicle manufacturers, safety advocates, trade groups, research organizations, and individuals. Commenters broadly expressed support for NHTSA's focus on pedestrian safety, although many comments did not directly respond to the questions asked in the notice. After careful consideration of all comments received and applicable regulatory considerations, NHTSA is largely adopting the May 26, 2023, proposal with some updates based on comments received. This NCAP update will test vehicles using four test devices used in Euro NCAP Pedestrian Testing Protocol, Version 8.5: adult and child headforms (representative of the weight of an adult and child head), the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) upper legform, and the Flexible Pedestrian Legform Impactor (FlexPLI) lower legform. <SU>6</SU> <FTREF/> The test devices simulate body regions commonly injured in vehicle-to-pedestrian crashes and have successfully been used in Euro NCAP. This update also adopts the majority of Euro NCAP's pedestrian crashworthiness assessment methods, including the injury limits for each test device and the method in which scores for eac ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 174k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━