NHTSA delays new rules on auto pedestrian impact safety testing until the 2027 model year: https://bit.ly/4pNVTqN. Pedestrian deaths from vehicle impacts number more than 7,300 per year in the US. A value that has increased in recent years and remained stubbornly high. NHTSA fails to provide an estimate of the cost and effectiveness of this modified safety rating system, and so the quantitative cost of delay is unclear. This is likely because safety ratings and their perception by the public in the future is not obvious, but this is a poor excuse in my opinion. Uncertainty clearly exists and may be substantial, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t know the range of likely outcomes. These studies in Germany and Sweden show how such a prediction could be made: https://bit.ly/42gFm4S; https://bit.ly/42Yy5Xs.
