Congress to Require Automakers to Post Crash-Test Ratings on Window Sticker

Washington DC May 17, 2005; AIADA reported that ”Tucked away in the $295 billion highway bill passed by the Senate yesterday is a provision that could help consumers when making a big purchase of their own,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “The highway bill includes billions of dollars in funding for road construction and mass-transit. It also includes a rule requiring auto makers to start printing crash-test data on the stickers of all new cars.” From the report: “The federal government spends millions of dollars a year testing new cars and trucks on their ability to withstand collisions and avoid rollovers, and rating them on a five-star scale. But the data are hard to come by when buyers need it the most: when they are on a car lot, comparison-shopping. Under the proposed rule, the government’s crash-safety and rollover ratings would be added to the familiar new-car window sticker that currently lists price, fuel efficiency and other details about the vehicle.” More from the report: “Consumer advocates have lauded the provision, dubbed "stars on cars," saying it will lead to better-informed buying decisions and may even prompt Detroit to make safer cars. Motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 3 and 33. Last year there were nearly 43,000 total deaths, and nearly 2.8 million injuries. Auto makers say they don’t oppose the rule and are taking no public position on the proposal, which passed the Senate yesterday and next goes into conference committee, where differences with a House version must be negotiated. Assuming the bill passes into law, lobbyists for the auto industry are expected to work hard to influence the final look of the sticker.” Says Gloria Bergquist of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers: "We’re concerned that increasingly putting so much information on automobiles may have the opposite effect of having consumers not read it because there’s so much information."