Government watch: Stars on cars

Consumers Union Senior Product Safety Counsel Sally Greenberg reports on the automotive developments in Washington, D.C.:

Consumers Union was asked to join bill-sponsor Senator Mike DeWine (R-OH) on September 7th, as he and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator Nicole Mason announced that government crash ratings will be available at the showroom for the first time. The "Stars on Cars" rule requires that NHTSA's five-star safety ratings be displayed on car window stickers beginning with the 2008 model year if the vehicle has been tested.

The new vehicle price stickers will contain NHTSA safety ratings in three areas: front and side crash tests and rollover tests. All three use a five-star rating, with five stars being the safest.

CU likes to see auto safety consumer information made widely available to consumers wherever they might be looking for it: on the Internet, from the manufacturer, and at the showroom. Thanks to this new rule, consumers who might be inclined to make quick or impulsive decisions at a dealership will have the chance to compare safety ratings of one car against another. In some cases, they might think twice about what they choose based on this safety information.

Having acknowledged the value of having crash ratings readily available, CU has been critical of NHTSA's crash program because most cars are getting perfect or near-perfect scores. If every college-bound teenager were getting near-perfect scores on the SATs, you can bet the authors of the test would be concerned. CU has called on NHTSA to make the crash testing program far more stringent to give consumers better information on which cars are the safest and further encourage manufacturers to improve crash protection.

For a thorough look at vehicle crash-worthiness, it is recommended that shoppers also review results from the more stringent Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) tests. Complete safety-test results from both sources can be found in the car model overview pages at ConsumerReports.org, as well as safety-related ratings and data on how vehicles performed in our dynamic tests.

--Sally Greenberg