Vehicle Safety Act

The postwar economic boom brought the automobile within the reach of more people than ever before but the American automobile culture was attacked in the late 1950s by Vance Packard and in 1965 by Ralph Nader in a book called Unsafe at any Speed. Growing safety concerns led to the passing of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1968. 

Canada established its own Road Safety and Motor Vehicle Directorate within Transport Canada in 1969. The Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (CMVSS), which are administered by Transport Canada, were introduced shortly thereafter in 1971 pursuant to the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Act (CM VS A). What follows is a presentation of the evidence for behavioural adaptation to several well-known vehicle-based policies. 

U.S. Congress. National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966. Public Law, United States of America. Washington U.S. Government Publishing Office 2001. p. 718-30. 

At the direction of the U.S. Congress under the Commercial Motor Vehicles Safety Act of 1986, national standards were developed for every individual driving commercial motor vehicles in the country. The regulations (49 CFR Part 383) were finalized by the Federal Highway Administration on July 1, 1988). 

On September 9,1966 Congress enacted Public Law 89-563 which became known as the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, or simply the Vehicle Safety Act. The purpose, according to the Act, ...is to reduce traffic accident deaths and injuries resulting from traffic accidents...to establish motor vehicle safety standards for motor vehicles and equipment in interstate commerce to undertake and support necessary safety research and development and to expand the national driver register. ... 

Two months after the Vehicle Safety Act and Highway Safety Act were signed by President Lyndon Johnson, the National Traffic Safety Agency and National Highway Safety Agency were established within the Department of Commerce and William Haddon was appointed as Administrator of both. In April of 1967 the two safety agencies were transferred into the Department of Transportation and three years later became the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). 

Under the provisions of the Vehicle Safety Act manufacturers are required to notify consumers and NHTSA of safety defects and the proposed remedy. Since 1966 more than 88 million vehicles have been recalled. Most recalls have been initiated by manufacturers without formal NHTSA involvement. Letters and phone calls from car owners are the primary source of information for defect investigations. As with highway safety programs activity has increased in the recall program in recent years. 

The mandate from the Vehicle Safety Act was to reduce traffic deaths and injuries by establishing vehicle safety standards which were practicable, objective and stated in terms of performance. The vehicle safety standards presumably protect the public against unreasonable risk. The mandate from the Highway Safety Act was to reduce traffic deaths and injuries by assisting... 

Any review of NHTSA decisions about vehicle safety standards must recognize the assumption on which the safety mandate is based and the judgment required to interpret the directions given. The fundamental assumption is that there are too many traffic injuries and that regulatory action must be taken to reduce them to an acceptable level. The stated purpose of the Vehicle Safety Act is to reduce traffic accidents and death and injury from traffic accidents the assumption is that losses without the law are unacceptable. Motor vehicle safety is defined in the statute as vehicle performance which protects persons against unreasonable risks the assumption is that vehicle safety standards will reduce the risks to a reasonable level. Standards are supposed to be practicable in terms of several factors including the ultimate cost (if any) to the consumer. 

Nonetheless evidence exists that NHTSA seriously entertains this risk free goal. Each year NHTSA prepares a report on its activities under the Vehicle Safety Act. Each year changes in the number of traffic fatalities and in the fatality rate (per vehicle miles) are described. Some years the fatalities and rates are up and some years the fatalities and rates are down compared to... 

Another nontechnological activity which has received more attention in recent years is the safety-related motor vehicle recall program. Since 1966, over 100 million vehicles have been recalled to correct safety defects. The number of vehicles recalled for safety-related defects was 7.2 million in 1984 and it was 5.6 million in 1985. Presumably for approximately half of the vehicles the recall was influenced by NHTSA. Most of the safety recalls are initiated by manufacturers but presumably some would not be made without the requirement contained in the Vehicle Safety Act. The primary source of information for defects is the motoring public who send to NHTSA over 2,000 telephone and mail messages per month. ... 

U. S. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic Safety 84. A Report on activities under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 and the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act. 1. Pages 35-43 and U. S. Department of Transportation. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Srffety Related Recall Campaigns for Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Equipment, Including Tires. DOT HS 806 927. For Calendar Year 1985. 

Transportation Safety. The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 created the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and authorized it to promulgate and enforce motor vehicle safety standards and to order recalls of unsafe motor vehicles. Two earlier enacted transportation safety statutes empowered the Federal Aviation Administration to regulate airline safety and the Federal Railroad Administration to regulate railroad safety. 

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