In 2008, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) published a notice detailing changes to its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP), a consumer information program that tests and rates vehicles for safety using an easily recognizable 5-star rating system. In recent years, more vehicles were achieving 4- and 5-stars, which led the agency to recognize the need for a tougher rating system that, in keeping with the program’s goal, would encourage continuous advancement of vehicle safety through market forces. With the availability of improved test devices and a better understanding of occupant injuries and crash conditions, the agency was able to develop a more stringent set of criteria for its safety ratings program. The agency began applying this criteria and disseminating the new safety ratings to consumers starting with model year (MY) 2011 vehicles.

This paper details changes made to the crashworthiness tests conducted under the NCAP program and provides analyses of crash test results for MY 2011 vehicles tested during the 2010 calendar year. More specifically, this paper shows that the average star ratings assigned to MY 2011 vehicles are lower than those from recent model years. Despite lower star ratings, based on the MY 2011 rating system and comparing to the extent possible data from previous model years, MY 2011 vehicles on a whole are offering consumers lower injury risks (a higher level of crash protection) than the baseline injury risk used within the new rating system. Driver injury results from MY 2007-2010 Frontal NCAP tests will be directly compared to those from MY 2011 NCAP tests. A comparative analysis of injury data and ratings from vehicles known to be compliant with the upgraded Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 214, “Side impact protection,” to those that have not yet been redesigned to meet this upgrade, will also be shown. While some vehicle manufacturers have made changes to comply with the upgraded side impact standard, additional protection for certain body regions may still be needed. The analyses show that while many vehicles are achieving high ratings under the new rating system, others still need to improve their crashworthiness protection.

For ease of discussion, the vehicle rating system that applies to MY 2011 vehicles and beyond (NHTSA 2008a) is referred to as the “new” rating system. The system that applies to MY 1990-2010 vehicles (DOT 2007) is referred to as the “old” rating system.

It is important to note that while this paper makes injury data comparisons between 2011 and previous model year vehicles, the actual star ratings calculated under the new and old systems should not be compared.