NHTSA Proposes New Rules to Prevent Head Injuries in Pedestrian Car Crash Accidents

Amid a spike in the number of pedestrian car accident fatalities in recent years, many of which have been blamed on the design of increasingly popular large SUVs, federal highway safety officials have announced a new proposal aimed at reducing the  number of traumatic head injuries in these crashes.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) proposed the new pedestrian safety rule this week, which would require manufacturers of vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 4,536kg or less to perform testing procedures that simulate a head-to-hood impact, and take steps to minimize the risk of head injuries to pedestrians.

There has been a drastic increase in pedestrian-related car crash accidents in recent years, with a particularly sharp rise in SUV-involved pedestrian deaths, which soared by 79% in 2020.

According to a recent report from the NHTSA, 88% of pedestrian fatalities in 2022 occurred in single-vehicle incidents. The report further detailed that the most common scenarios involve pedestrians being struck by the front of multipurpose passenger vehicles, which accounted for 49% of these fatalities, followed by passenger cars at 37%.

Researchers have further identified children as being eight times more likely to die when struck by an SUV, compared to those struck by a passenger car. Safety experts indicate that the higher front ends of SUVs and trucks create blind spots, and the vehicles cause greater blunt force impacts due to their larger size.

In the newly released proposal titled NPRM Pedestrian Head Protection Standard, NHTSA officials outlined specific test procedures crucial for evaluating the potential risk of head injuries during accidents, including simulating head-to-hood impacts. The agency indicates that these tests will utilize human-like headforms representing a diverse demographic, from small children to adults, to ensure comprehensive safety evaluations across different pedestrian groups.

The simulations would use two different headforms, one with a mass of 3.5 kg to represent the head of a 6-year-old child and another with a mass of 4.5 kg to represent the head of a 50th percentile adult male.

Specifically, vehicles would need to reduce the risk of serious or fatal head injuries to both child and adult pedestrians in impacts at speeds up to 25 mph, which encompasses about 70% of pedestrian injuries from vehicle impacts.

In the testing design, the hood area would be divided into the Child Headform Test Area and the Adult Headform Test Area, to reflect the regions where children and adults are most likely to impact.

To comply with head injury criteria limits, hoods must include protective features that either absorb the impact energy when the headform makes initial contact or maintain enough clearance to prevent the headform from striking objects underneath. These measures must ensure that the hood maintains an optimal level of stiffness, which is neither too rigid nor too soft.

Once finalized, this standard will align with Global Technical Regulation No. 9, with specific enhancements tailored for American vehicles, such as pickups and large SUVs, ensuring they meet the proposed pedestrian head protection levels.

“We have a crisis of roadway deaths, and it’s even worse among vulnerable road users like pedestrians,” said Sophie Shulman, NHTSA’s Deputy Administrator. “Between 2013 and 2022, pedestrian fatalities increased 57% from 4,779 to 7,522. This proposed rule will ensure that vehicles will be designed to protect those inside and outside from serious injury or death. We will continue to work to make our roads safer for everyone and help protect vulnerable road users.”

The proposal will be in effect two years after the final ruling. This allows manufacturers to have enough lead time to assure vehicles are in full compliance with the standard.