Multiple federal agencies have been attempting to make tougher requirements and safety guidelines into new sets of rules that automakers would have to comply with in order to ensure the driver’s safety at all times.
According to a series of reports, Consumer Reports does much more than simply releasing its annual Top Picks, which awards models that offer the best safety features. Consumers Union, an arm of the Consumer Reports group, also pushes agencies like the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ensure that certain safety requirements are met by automakers at all times.
At this moment, the agency is pushing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to ensure that new guidelines developed to make in-car technologies less hazardous to drivers are enacted as federal standards. That is only one of the efforts being carried out by Consumers Union.
Auto safety should be a priority to drivers, automakers and safety regulators everywhere.
According to Consumer Reports, their efforts include pushing new legislation and manufacturing requirements that would curb distracted driving and ensure that drivers are not exposed to as many distractions as they currently are, especially when you consider the addition of a series of technologies that have been added to new vehicles in order to facilitate the integration of smartphones and the car system. Too often, interactive communication features pose distraction risks to drivers, increasing thus the risks associated with distracted driving.
The Consumers Union is now pushing the NHTSA to make sure that the guidelines developed for car makers are enacted as federal requirements so that rearview cameras are present in all new cars and that in-car features that could pose distraction risks like touch-screens and internet-connected dashboard technology, are developed in ways that do not pose accident risks to drivers.
On top of all the fights that Consumers Union has been fighting to ensure drivers are safe, the group has also decided to work on strengthening car-seat standards. The NHTSA has come up with new guidelines that would make sure that car safety seat manufacturers test their seats using a new side-impact test, which would be used for seats produced for children who weigh up to 40 pounds.
This change would protect children in the event of side-impact crashes, which are the type of accidents that cause injury to children on safety seats the most often.
While the consumer watchdog agency and its Consumers Union group focus on auto and road safety, drivers are urged to also make sure to stay on top of all news concerning the auto industry to beware of changes made to newer cars and follow the Consumer Reports Top Safety reports in order to find a vehicle that offers both safety and reliability to them and their loved ones.
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