National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

www.nhtsa.dot.gov

What is NHTSA?

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency within the Department of Transportation. NHTSA, the acronym pronounced as "nit-sah," sets and enforces safety standards for vehicles and investigates vehicle defects. It sets requirements for child seat safety and vehicle fuel consumption. It promotes safety programs to reduce drunk driving incidents and increase seat belt use. The agency also collects data on a variety of issues, including vehicle and pedestrian deaths.

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NHTSA has a wealth of traffic safety data. On the State Traffic Safety Information Web site http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/STSI/USA%20WEB%20REPORT.HTM , you can get state-by-state data, last updated as of 2009, on the number of crash deaths, how they compare to the national average, how they've changed over time and how much money the state is getting for traffic safety programs.

NHTSA's massive Fatality Analysis Reporting System, http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/STSI/USA%20WEB%20REPORT.HTM , also contains state-by-state data on things like pedestrian deaths, vehicle occupant deaths and what kinds of vehicles they were riding in, the number of alcohol-related deaths and even how drunk the drivers were.

NHTSA keeps track of vehicle recalls and investigates vehicles when they get word from consumers or industry that there's some sort of problem. If you know that a particular vehicle is made in your region, you could check NHTSA's safer car web site, http://www.safercar.gov , and see whether NHTSA is conducting any investigations on that vehicle. The site also has the agency's crash tests results. If a vehicle is made in your area or there's a crash and you want to find out how the government rated that particular vehicle, you can search on this site.

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