TO THE EDITOR:
Congress must approve nominee Steven Cliff to be NHTSA administrator ("NHTSA nominee Cliff says he will address jump in U.S. traffic deaths," autonews.com, Dec. 16). We desperately need this position filled with a strong leader that will not pander to the automotive industry they are tasked to regulate.
As deputy administrator, Cliff has made more progress in less than a year than NHTSA has made in over a decade. We are finally witnessing how this "safety administration" is supposed to work.
We are seeing safety regulations that have been lying dormant — some for almost a decade and in favor of voluntary safety guidelines under previous administrations — being acted on, such as the rear seat belt reminder.
One critical action at the heart of our safety is continuing to modernize the New Car Assessment Program. Safety activists have been chasing updates since the 2013 rule that added collision avoidance to the crash ratings was first delayed in 2015.
In an unprecedented action since NCAP was introduced in 1979 under NHTSA Administrator Joan Claybrook, a change from the 5-Star safety "merit" system to a "numerical scale" is being considered.
A Federal Register docket refers to a proposed 10-Star "speed safety" rating that will definitively rate all automotive safety innovations and create a competitive drive to keep improving our automotive safety. This NCAP change is pending public approval in 2022 but has growing support, even from NHTSA.
DAVID DeVEAU, Owner, DeVco Design & Development,Westfield, Mass. The writer is an independent transportation safety advocate. DeVco Design & Development is an engineering consultancy.
