Thank you for signing this petition. This is just the first step!

RIGHT NOW, I need you to go to https://www.regulations.gov/docket/NHTSA-2023-0020/comments. You can also go to regulations.gov and search "NCAP," filtering for comments closing in the next 3 days. Click on "Documents" to see the notice for the New Car Assessment Program. See suggested language from America Walks below.

This is the formal federal comment portal. The public comment period ENDS Tuesday, July 25. Go there now and tell NHTSA that you demand they include a vehicle’s risk of killing a pedestrian within their five-star safety rating system.

This is about all of us - in cars and out, kids and adults, city to suburb to rural. No one is safe from the risk of bigger vehicles. 

Thank you. XO, Allie's mom

Here's what to tell NHTSA:

NHTSA needs to do significantly more to protect people on foot, on bikes, and using mobility devices from the increasing threat of large vehicles. I join America Walks and other organizations to ask that NHTSA revise its pedestrian crashworthiness evaluation with the following recommendations and implement it without delay.

All vehicles should be held to the highest safety standards and NHTSA’s proposed pass/fail grade for pedestrian crashworthiness falls short. Under NHTSA’s current proposal, a vehicle could receive a failing grade for pedestrian crashworthiness, but still earn a five-star safety rating. This is unacceptable and misrepresents a vehicle as safe when it is not. Results from pedestrian crashworthiness evaluations should be incorporated in NCAP’s star rating system. 

The proposed pedestrian crashworthiness evaluation fails to address limited driver visibility, a known safety flaw for larger vehicles. An Insurance Institute of Highway Safety study shows that the blind spots of SUVs and pickup trucks make their drivers three to four times more likely to hit a pedestrian when turning than a passenger car. Driver visibility needs to be evaluated to determine whether or not a vehicle is safe for pedestrians. 

For a consumer information program like NCAP to be successful, results need to be available at the point of sale. NHTSA’s proposal to post results from pedestrian crashworthiness evaluations on its website and not post them on the vehicle (the Monroney label) severely undermines the program. Pedestrian crashworthiness ratings should be added to the Monroney label itself or a supplemental sticker on vehicles that is visible to the consumer. 

I also ask NHTSA to commit to including standards and technologies that protect people outside cars in an updated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). Vehicle safety standards that save the lives of people outside cars shouldn’t be left to consumer choice. NHTSA mandates equipment like seatbelts and airbags that protect vehicle occupants; it needs to update the FMVSS to protect everyone on our streets, not just those in vehicles.