National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act

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National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act
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United States Congress
  • An Act to provide for a coordinated national safety program and establishment of safety standards for motor vehicles in interstate commerce to reduce accidents involving motor vehicles and to reduce the deaths and injuries occurring in such accidents.
Citation Pub. L. Tooltip Public Law (United States)  89–563, 80  Stat.   718
Territorial extentUnited States
Passed by United States Senate
PassedJune 24, 1966
Passed by United States House of Representatives
PassedAugust 17, 1966
Signed byPres. Lyndon B. Johnson
SignedSeptember 9, 1966
First chamber: United States Senate
Bill citationS. 3005(89 th Cong.)
Second chamber: United States House of Representatives
Bill citationH.R. 13228
Related legislation
Highway Safety Act of 1966, Pub. L. Tooltip Public Law (United States)  89–564, S. 3052, 80  Stat.   731, enacted September 9, 1966
Summary
Reduce deaths and injuries resulting from traffic accidents by establishing motor vehicle safety standards and safety research programs

The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was enacted in the United States in 1966 to empower the federal government to set and administer new safety standards for motor vehicles and road traffic safety. The Act was the first mandatory federal safety standards for motor vehicles. The Act created the National Highway Safety Bureau (now National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The Act was one of a number of initiatives by the government in response to increasing number of cars and associated fatalities and injuries on the road following a period when the number of people killed on the road had increased 6-fold and the number of vehicles was up 11-fold since 1925. The reduction of the rate of death attributable to motor-vehicle crashes in the United States represents the successful public health response to a great technologic advance of the 20th century—the motorization of the United States. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

History

Systematic motor-vehicle safety efforts began during the 1960s. In 1960, unintentional injuries caused 93,803 deaths; [5] 41% were associated with motor-vehicle crashes. In 1966, after Congress and the general public had become thoroughly horrified by five years of skyrocketing motor-vehicle-related fatality rates, the enactment of the Highway Safety Act created the National Highway Safety Bureau (NHSB), [6] which later became the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The systematic approach to motor-vehicle-related injury prevention began with NHSB's first director, William Haddon. [7] Haddon, a public health physician, recognized that standard public health methods and epidemiology could be applied to preventing motor-vehicle-related and other injuries. He defined interactions between host (human), agent (motor vehicle), and environmental (highway) factors before, during, and after crashes resulting in injuries.[ citation needed ] Tackling problems identified with each factor during each phase of the crash, NHSB initiated a campaign to prevent motor-vehicle-related injuries.

When he signed the bill into law on September 9, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson noted that while 29 American soldiers had died over the recent Labor Day weekend, 614 Americans died in automobile accidents. [8] In 1966, passage of the Highway Safety Act and the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act authorized the federal government to set and regulate standards for motor vehicles and highways, a mechanism necessary for effective prevention [7] [9] The Highway Safety Act resulted in the national adoption of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, while the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act led to the national adoption of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Many changes in both vehicle and highway design followed this mandate. Vehicles (agent of injury) were built with new safety features, including head rests, energy-absorbing steering wheels, shatter-resistant windshields, and safety belts [9] [10] Roads (environment) were improved by better delineation of curves (edge and center line stripes and reflectors), use of breakaway sign and utility poles, improved illumination, addition of barriers separating oncoming traffic lanes, and guardrails. [10] [11] The results were rapid. By 1970, motor-vehicle-related death rates were decreasing by both the public health measure (deaths per 100,000 population) and the traffic safety indicator (deaths per VMT). [5]

Changes in driver and passenger (host) behavior also have reduced motor-vehicle crashes and injuries. Enactment and enforcement of traffic safety laws, reinforced by public education, have led to safer behavior choices. Examples include enforcement of laws against driving while intoxicated (DWI) and underage drinking, and enforcement of seat belt, child safety seat, and motorcycle helmet use laws. [11] [12]

Government and community recognition of the need for motor-vehicle safety prompted initiation of programs by federal and state governments, academic institutions, community-based organizations, and industry. NHTSA and the Federal Highway Administration within the U.S. Department of Transportation have provided national leadership for traffic and highway safety efforts since the 1960s. [7] The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, established at CDC in 1992, has contributed public health direction. [13] [14] State and local governments have enacted and enforced laws that affect motor-vehicle and highway safety, driver licensing and testing, vehicle inspections, and traffic regulations. [7] Preventing motor-vehicle-related injuries has required collaboration among many professional disciplines (such as biomechanics has been essential to vehicle design and highway safety features). Citizen and community-based advocacy groups have played important prevention roles in areas such as drinking and driving and child-occupant protection. [12] Consistent with the public/ private partnerships that characterize motor-vehicle safety efforts, NHTSA sponsors "Buckle Up America" week, which focuses on the need to secure children in child-safety seats properly at all times.

Specific public health concerns

High-Risk Populations

Occupant-Protection Systems

Safety belts: In response to legislation, highly visible law enforcement, and public education, rates of safety belt use nationwide had increased from approximately 11% in 1981 to 68% in 1997 (8). Safety belt use began to increase following enactment of the first state mandatory-use laws in 1984. [12] In 1997, all states except New Hampshire had seat belt laws. Primary laws (which allow police to stop vehicles simply because occupants are not wearing safety belts) are more effective than secondary laws (which require that a vehicle be stopped for some other traffic violation). [12] [19] The prevalence of safety belt use after enactment of primary laws increased 1.5-4.3 times, and motor-vehicle-related fatality rates decreased 13%-46%. [19]

Child-safety and booster seats: All states had passed child passenger protection laws, but these varied widely in age and size requirements and the penalties imposed for noncompliance. Child-restraint used in 1996 was 85% for children aged less than 1 year and 60% for children aged 1–4 years. [20] From 1975 to 1997, deaths among children aged less than 5 years had decreased 30% to 3.1 per 100,000 population, but rates for age groups 5–15 years had declined by only 11%-13%. [15] Child seats were misused by as many as 80% of users [21] [22] [23] In addition, parents failed to recognize the need for booster seats for children who were too large for child seats but not large enough to be safely restrained in an adult lap-shoulder belt. [24]

Sources

Reported by: Div of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC.

Traffic Injury Prevention

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seat belt</span> Vehicle safety device to protect against injury during collisions and sudden stop

A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduces the likelihood of death or serious injury in a traffic collision by reducing the force of secondary impacts with interior strike hazards, by keeping occupants positioned correctly for maximum effectiveness of the airbag, and by preventing occupants being ejected from the vehicle in a crash or if the vehicle rolls over.

Drunk driving is the act of operating a motor vehicle with the operator's ability to do so impaired as a result of alcohol consumption, or with a blood alcohol level in excess of the legal limit. For drivers 21 years or older, driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher is illegal. For drivers under 21 years old, the legal limit is lower, with state limits ranging from 0.00 to 0.02. Lower BAC limits apply when operating boats, airplanes, or commercial vehicles. Among other names, the criminal offense of drunk driving may be called driving under the influence (DUI), driving while intoxicated or impaired (DWI), operating [a] vehicle under the influence of alcohol (OVI), or operating while impaired (OWI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automotive safety</span> Study and practice to minimize the occurrence and consequences of motor vehicle accidents

Automotive safety is the study and practice of automotive design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Road traffic safety</span> Methods and measures for reducing the risk of death and injury on roads

Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, and passengers of on-road public transport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Driving under the influence</span> Driving a motor vehicle while under the influence of an impairing substance

Driving under the influence (DUI) is the offense of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs, to a level that renders the driver incapable of operating a motor vehicle safely. Multiple other terms are used for the offense in various jurisdictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Risk compensation</span> Behavioral theory

Risk compensation is a theory which suggests that people typically adjust their behavior in response to perceived levels of risk, becoming more careful where they sense greater risk and less careful if they feel more protected. Although usually small in comparison to the fundamental benefits of safety interventions, it may result in a lower net benefit than expected or even higher risks.

Seat belt legislation requires the fitting of seat belts to motor vehicles and the wearing of seat belts by motor vehicle occupants to be mandatory. Laws requiring the fitting of seat belts to cars have in some cases been followed by laws mandating their use, with the effect that thousands of deaths on the road have been prevented. Different laws apply in different countries to the wearing of seat belts.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on transportation safety in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Safety Council</span> American nonprofit public service organization

The National Safety Council (NSC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public service organization promoting health and safety in the United States. Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, NSC is a member organization, founded in 1913 and granted a congressional charter in 1953. Members include more than 55,000 businesses, labor organizations, schools, public agencies, private groups and individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act</span>

The Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation or TREAD Act is a United States federal law enacted in the fall of 2000. This law intends to increase consumer safety through mandates assigned to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It was drafted in response to fatalities related to Ford Explorers fitted with Firestone tires, and was influenced by automobile and tire manufacturers as well as consumer safety advocates. After congressional hearings were held in September 2000, Congress in only an 18-hour span passed the TREAD Act in October 2000. The Act was signed into law by President Clinton on November 1, 2000, and has been incorporated into the existing National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, codified at 49 U.S.C. §§ 30101–30170.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation safety in the United States</span> Overview of transportation safety

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration</span> Agency of the US Department of Transportation

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation that regulates the trucking industry in the United States. The primary mission of the FMCSA is to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.

Injury prevention is an effort to prevent or reduce the severity of bodily injuries caused by external mechanisms, such as accidents, before they occur. Injury prevention is a component of safety and public health, and its goal is to improve the health of the population by preventing injuries and hence improving quality of life. Among laypersons, the term "accidental injury" is often used. However, "accidental" implies the causes of injuries are random in nature. Researchers prefer the term "unintentional injury" to refer to injuries that are nonvolitional but often preventable. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control show that unintentional injuries are a significant public health concern: they are by far the leading cause of death from ages 1 through 44. During these years, unintentional injuries account for more deaths than the next three leading causes of death combined. Unintentional injuries also account for the top ten sources of nonfatal emergency room visits for persons up to age 9 and nine of the top ten sources of nonfatal emergency room visits for persons over the age of 9.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seat belt laws in the United States</span> Aspect of U.S. traffic law

Most seat belt laws in the United States are left to the state or country’s law. However, the recommended age for a child to sit in the front passenger seat is 13. The first seat belt law was a federal law, Title 49 of the United States Code, Chapter 301, Motor Safety Standard, which took effect on January 1, 1968, that required all vehicles to be fitted with seat belts in all designated seating positions. This law has since been modified to require three-point seat belts in outboard-seating positions, and finally three-point seat belts in all seating positions. Seat belt use was voluntary until New York became the first state to require vehicle occupants to wear seat belts, as of December 1, 1984. New Hampshire is the only state with no law requiring adults to wear seat belts in a vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Driving in the United States</span>

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John Dunham States was an American orthopedic surgeon who dedicated his career to improving automotive safety. Born in Rochester, New York, he was a graduate of the University of Rochester, and received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He was a professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Rochester from 1976 to 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traffic collision</span> Incident when a vehicle collides with another object

A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Traffic collisions often result in injury, disability, death, and property damage as well as financial costs to both society and the individuals involved. Road transport is the most dangerous situation people deal with on a daily basis, but casualty figures from such incidents attract less media attention than other, less frequent types of tragedy. The commonly used term car accident is increasingly falling out of favor with many government departments and organizations, with the Associated Press style guide recommending caution before using the term. Some collisions are intentional vehicle-ramming attacks, staged crashes, vehicular homicide or vehicular suicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcohol-related traffic crashes in the United States</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Work-related road safety in the United States</span>

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Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 regulates automotive occupant crash protection in the United States. Like all other Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, FMVSS 208 is administered by the United States Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

References

  1. ↑ Jensen, Christopher (November 26, 2015). "50 Years Ago, 'Unsafe at Any Speed' Shook the Auto World". The New York Times . Retrieved April 27, 2016. Few drivers could imagine owning a car these days that did not come with airbags, antilock brakes and seatbelts. But 50 years ago motorists went without such basic safety features. That was before a young lawyer named Ralph Nader came along with a book, "Unsafe at Any Speed," that was could change the auto industry. It accused automakers of failing to make cars as safe as possible. Less than a year after the book was published, a balky Congress created the federal safety agency that became the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — an agency whose stated mission is to save lives, prevent injuries and reduce crashes...By the spring of 1966, "Unsafe at Any Speed" was a best seller for nonfiction...In September 1966 — about 10 months after the book was published — President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, requiring the adoption of new or upgraded vehicle safety standards, and creating an agency to enforce them and supervise safety recalls.
  2. ↑ Hendrickson, Kimberly A. (2003). "National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act". In Kutler, Stanley I. (ed.). Dictionary of American History. Vol. 5 (3rd ed.). Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 561–562. Signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on 9 September 1966, this act created the first mandatory federal safety standards for motor vehicles.
  3. ↑ Brumagen, Regan. "Unsafe at Any Speed, Work by Nader". Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved April 27, 2016. Unsafe at Any Speed, investigative report on U.S. automobile safety published in 1965 by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who was then a 31-year-old attorney. Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile excoriated the American automotive industry, based in Detroit, for its prioritization of style and design over consumer safety. Nader's book eventually became a best seller and helped spur the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, the country's first significant automobile safety legislation.
  4. ↑ Wyden, Peter (1987). The Unknown Iacocca. William Morrow and Company. ISBN   068806616X. Nader, another poor boy, rose to national hero status on the critic's side of America's car wars. His 1965 best-seller Unsafe at Any Speed focused on the appalling accident record of Chevrolet's Corvair and was largely responsible for the congressional passage, in 1966, of the nation's first reasonably stringent auto safety law.
  5. 1 2 National Safety Council (1998). Accident facts (Report) (1998 ed.). Itasca, Illinois: National Safety Council. ISBN   0879122005.
  6. ↑ Pub. L. Tooltip Public Law (United States)  89–564: Highway Safety Act of 1966
  7. 1 2 3 4 Committee on Injury Prevention and Control, Institute of Medicine (1999). Reducing the burden of injury: advancing prevention and treatment. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. doi:10.17226/6321. ISBN   0-309-06566-6. PMID   25101422.
  8. ↑ Johnson, Lyndon (September 9, 1966). "Remarks at the Signing of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and the Highway Safety Act" . Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  9. 1 2 Transportation Research Board (1990). Safety research for a changing highway environment (Report). Washington, D.C.: National Research Council, Transportation Research Board. doi:10.17226/11411. ISBN   0-309-05056-1. ISSN   0360-859X. special report no. 229
  10. 1 2 Rice DP; MacKenzie EJ; Jones AS; Kaufman SR; deLissovoy GV; Max W; McLoughlin E; Miller TR; Robertson LS; Salkever DS; Smith GS (1989). The cost of injury in the United States: a report to Congress (PDF) (Report). San Francisco, California: University of California, Institute of Health and Aging; Johns Hopkins University, Injury Prevention Center. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 CDC/National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. (1992). Position papers. Third National Injury Control Conference: Setting the national agenda for injury control in the 1990s. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, CDC.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Graham, JD (1993). "Injuries from traffic crashes: meeting the challenge". Annual Review of Public Health. 14: 515–43. doi: 10.1146/annurev.pu.14.050193.002503 . PMID   8323601.
  13. ↑ Sleet DA; Bonzo S; Branche C (1998). "An overview of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention". Injury Prevention. 4: 308–12. doi:10.1136/ip.4.4.308. PMC   1730415 . PMID   9887426.
  14. ↑ Bolen JR; Sleet DA; Johnson VR, eds. (1997). Prevention of motor vehicle-related injuries: a compendium of articles from the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 1985-1996 (Report). Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CDC.
  15. 1 2 3 4 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (November 1998). Traffic safety facts 1997: A compilation of motor vehicle crash data from the fatality analysis reporting system and the general estimates system (Report). Washington, D.C.: Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
  16. ↑ CDC (December 11, 1998). "Alcohol involvement in fatal motor-vehicle crashes--United States, 1996-1997" (PDF). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report . 47 (48): 1055–6, 1063.
  17. ↑ Hingson R; Howland J. (1993). "Promoting safety in adolescents.". In Millstein SG; Petersen AC; Nightingale EO (eds.). Promoting the health of adolescents: new directions for the 21st century . New York, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 305–319. ISBN   0-19-507454-8.
  18. ↑ Foss RD; Evenson KR (January 1999). "Effectiveness of graduated driver licensing in reducing motor vehicle crashes". American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 16 (1 suppl): 47–56. doi:10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00112-3. PMID   9921386.
  19. 1 2 Rivara FP; Thompson DC; Cummings P (January 1999). "Effectiveness of primary and secondary enforced seat belt laws". American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 16 (1 suppl): 30–9. doi:10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00113-5. PMID   9921384.
  20. ↑ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (August 1997). Research note: National occupant protection use survey, 1996--controlled intersection study (Report). Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
  21. ↑ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (September 1996). NHTSA traffic tech note no. 133, observed patterns of misuse of child safety seats (Report). Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
  22. ↑ CDC (July 10, 1998). "Improper use of child safety seats--Kentucky, 1996" (PDF). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report . 47 (26): 541–4.
  23. ↑ Taft CH; Mickalide AD; Taft AR (1999). Child passengers at risk in America: a national study of car seat misuse (Report). Washington, D.C.: National Safe Kids Campaign.
  24. ↑ CDC (February 5, 1999). "National Child Passenger Safety Week--February 14–20, 1999" (PDF). Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report . 48 (04): 83–4.
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