Technical Paper
An Assessment of the Reliability of the NHTSA New Car Assessment Program
1995-02-01
950825
An August 4, 1994 news release of the U.S. Department of Transportation [Ref. 1] states that “The National Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has determined that there is a positive relationship between scores it provides to consumers in its new car and light truck crash tests and the fatality risk in real-world crashes. ‘Consumers can use this crash test information in their purchase decisions. We are pleased that our latest analysis verifies that the information continues to provide a valid indication of the crash protection that various makes and models provide,’ said NHTSA Acting Administrator Christopher Hart.” These assertions are said to be based on an NHTSA technical report [Ref.2]. In this referenced report, however, it is stated that the “results do not guarantee that an individual make-model with low NCAP (New Car Assessment Program; the crash test) scores will necessarily have lower fatality risk than other make-models with higher NCAP scores”.