U.S. Department of Transportation printed on recycled paper

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

In general, do you think that standards for safety

equipment in motor vehicles should be set by the

government or left to the manufacturer?

Technology Transfer Series

Number 132 August 1996

THE PUBLIC FAVORS A STRONG 

GOVERNMENT ROLE IN HIGHWAY SAFETY

Who should be responsible for setting the standards in percent) think it’s very important to have a national

how well motor vehicles protect passengers in a crash hotline where drivers can report safety defects, and

-- the government or manufacturers? Most Americans another 21 percent think it’s somewhat important. 

(67 percent) think that the government should set the About half (47 percent) recommend that 

standards, according to a recent national telephone

survey conducted for the National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA). 

In November and December of 1995, about 4,000

randomly selected persons aged 16 and older from

across the nation participated in the NHTSA 1995

Customer Satisfaction Survey. The results of the

survey confirm that safety ranks high in purchase

decisions and that the public prefers a strong role for

government in setting standards for safety in vehicles. 

Virtually the entire public support minimum safety

standards for vehicle features including brakes, gas

tanks, headlights, safety belts, and crashworthiness. 

Most believe the government should provide

information to consumers and promote safe driving the government run the hotline, 28 percent suggest

behaviors. that automobile manufacturers run it, while 13

Safety Standards

When asked who should set the standards for

crashworthiness, the public favors the government

over auto manufacturers by better than a 2-to-1

margin (67 to 27 percent). For vehicle safety

equipment, the margin increases to 3-to-1 (72 to 23

percent) in favor of the government. More than fourfifths (81 percent) believe that safety standards should

be the same for all states, rather than each state setting

its own standards. Most (89 percent) support federal

government enforcement to recall vehicles for safetyrelated defects.

National Hotline

As consumers, most Americans (90 percent) say it is

very important to have information about vehicles that

have been recalled for safety defects. Most (73

percent think an independent laboratory should take

the responsibility. 

Only 27 percent know or guess that a national hotline

exists for reporting defects. In 1995, NHTSA

handled 809,496 calls to the Auto Safety Hotline at 1-

800-424-9393. The NHTSA hotline also provides

information on topics like drinking and driving,

children’s safety seats, and safety belts, but only 20

percent know that such a hotline exists for these

purposes.

Crash Tests of Vehicles

About two-thirds responded yes when asked if the

government conducts crash tests of vehicles to check

their safety, but most of these had no idea which

government agency does the work. The correct

answer is NHTSA, which issues crashworthiness
information based on the results of crash tests of many

different vehicles each year.

Increase Public Information and Education

and Driver Education Programs

Across all ages, Americans (82 percent) believe that

the number of serious injuries in motor vehicle

crashes could be reduced by more public education. 

They believe that much of the crash problem is related

to driving behavior. They would like to see increased

public education in drinking and driving, drugs and

driving, reckless driving, running stop lights and

signs, speeding, and tailgating, among other topics.

Most (86 percent) of those aged 16 and older consider

driver education courses very important in training

new drivers to drive safely, and two-thirds think the

federal government should provide financial support

for high school driver education programs.

Support for Government Activities

The public considers it very important for the federal

government to conduct specific education programs,

and conduct research and regulatory activities. At the

top of the list is public education campaigns to reduce

drunk driving, closely followed by those to increase

child car seat use. They believe the government

should require manufacturers to improve safety

features, and that the government should regulate the

safety of heavy trucks, and conduct research on

motor vehicle safety.

The public believes the major responsibilities of the

government should be education, regulation,

enforcement, and research. These are NHTSA’s

primary activities, but the survey suggests that the

public is not aware of government safety-related

services, or who provides them. NHTSA is using the

information from this survey to improve service to

our customers.

To obtain a copy of the report, NHTSA 1995

Customer Satisfaction Survey, write to the Office of

Program Development and Evaluation, NHTSA,

NTS-30, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 

20590, or send a fax to (202) 366-7096. Alan Block

was the contract manager for this project.

U.S. Department 

of Transportation

National Highway 

Traffic Safety 

Administration

400 Seventh Street, S.W. NTS-33

Washington, DC 20590

TRAFFIC TECH is a publication to disseminate 

information about traffic safety programs, 

including evaluations, innovative programs, 

and new publications. Feel free to copy it as you wish. 

If you would like to receive a copy contact:

Linda Cosgrove, Ph.D., Editor, Evaluation Staff

Traffic Safety Programs

(202) 366-2759, fax (202) 366-7096

E-MAIL: lcosgrove@nhtsa.dot.gov