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> Year after year, federal officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the country’s primary roadway safety agency, ignored credible scient

> Year after year, federal officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the country’s primary roadway safety agency, ignored credible scientific research and failed to take simple steps to limit the hazards of underride crashes. NHTSA officials don't have time to do that of course, they are too busy denying right to repair in order to "protect" motorists https://youtube.com/watch?v=2nXVljRUnoc https://youtube.com/watch?v=2nXVljRUnoc As an external observer (I don't live in the USA) it seems to me that the NHTSA is captured by lobbyists, as a result it is currently only there to protect the interests of auto makers, instead of protecting traffic safety. Why is this illegal behaviour not investigated?

pnw 3y ago
NHTSA definitely seems like one of the more dysfunctional agencies. The US headlight standard from 1967 has never been updated to allow modern adaptive headlight designs despite at least two decades of requests from car manufacturers. Congress finally forced NHTSA to take action in 2021 with a timeline of two years, but they still aren't available because now the NHTSA is dragging their feet on testing. Meanwhile American car companies like Ford sell adaptive headlights overseas but we make do with 1960's technology in the US. I wonder how many lives have been lost in the meantime?
- kelnos 3y ago
  > Congress finally forced NHTSA to take action in 2021 with a timeline of two years What's the method of forcing them to do it, though? Like, if it's not done in two years, what happens?
  - pnw 3y ago
    Congress put it in a bill. Not sure exactly what happens if they don't do anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if the car companies sued, because it seems like they've been asking for this for a long time. H.R.3684 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 117th Congress (2021-2022) Rulemaking.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a final rule amending Standard 108..[lots of text omitted]..to allow for the use on vehicles of adaptive driving beam headlamp systems. There's an interesting article about it here. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/business/us-approves-smart-headlights.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/business/us-approves-smar...
  - adgjlsfhk1 3y ago
    they bring the head of the agency into Congress and ask them questions for a few hours
- droopyEyelids 3y ago
  As a related aside, if you have a ford with beam projector headlights, you can turn on the european features using FORSCAN
stefan_ 3y ago
Have you seen US trucks? It's like being transported back 50 years. Not only is NHTSA captured by lobbyists, they have clearly carved out a well isolated competitive island where US truck manufacturers can forever rest on ancient designs.

pnw 3y ago

NHTSA definitely seems like one of the more dysfunctional agencies. The US headlight standard from 1967 has never been updated to allow modern adaptive headlight designs despite at least two decades of requests from car manufacturers. Congress finally forced NHTSA to take action in 2021 with a timeline of two years, but they still aren't available because now the NHTSA is dragging their feet on testing. Meanwhile American car companies like Ford sell adaptive headlights overseas but we make do with 1960's technology in the US. I wonder how many lives have been lost in the meantime?

kelnos 3y ago
> Congress finally forced NHTSA to take action in 2021 with a timeline of two years What's the method of forcing them to do it, though? Like, if it's not done in two years, what happens?
- pnw 3y ago
  Congress put it in a bill. Not sure exactly what happens if they don't do anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if the car companies sued, because it seems like they've been asking for this for a long time. H.R.3684 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act 117th Congress (2021-2022) Rulemaking.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a final rule amending Standard 108..[lots of text omitted]..to allow for the use on vehicles of adaptive driving beam headlamp systems. There's an interesting article about it here. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/business/us-approves-smart-headlights.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/18/business/us-approves-smar...
- adgjlsfhk1 3y ago
  they bring the head of the agency into Congress and ask them questions for a few hours
droopyEyelids 3y ago
As a related aside, if you have a ford with beam projector headlights, you can turn on the european features using FORSCAN

stefan_ 3y ago

Have you seen US trucks? It's like being transported back 50 years. Not only is NHTSA captured by lobbyists, they have clearly carved out a well isolated competitive island where US truck manufacturers can forever rest on ancient designs.