National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Overview

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration‏‎ (NHTSA) was established by the Highway Safety Act of 1970 and is dedicated to achieving the highest standards of excellence in motor vehicle and highway safety. It works daily to help prevent crashes and their attendant costs, both human and financial.

NHTSA carries out highway safety programs by setting and enforcing safety performance standards for motor vehicles and equipment, identifying safety defects, and through the development and delivery of effective highway safety programs for State and local jurisdictions.

Automated vehicles

"The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) does not regulate or certify vehicle designs in the way that FAA regulates and certifies aircraft designs — and FAA certification standards tend to be much more rigorous than the safety standards that must be met before IA systems can be introduced into cars. NHTSA provides guidance to manufacturers through the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which set minimum performance requirements but do not specify how manufacturers should meet those requirements. NHTSA assesses compliance by inspecting and testing sample vehicles. It also monitors for safety defects by examining consumer reports of anomalous vehicle behavior that might pose a safety risk."