Pickup Trucks Won't Be The Same If These New Regulations Pass

Automotive safety has come a long way over the years. One of the key organizations responsible for many of the advances associated with this is the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). You may never have heard of it, but you've probably ridden in a car that is safer due to this government organization's influence. Per the NHTSA website, "Through enforcing vehicle performance standards and partnerships with state and local governments, NHTSA reduces deaths, injuries and economic losses from motor vehicle crashes."

That said, one criticism that has been repeatedly levied against the organization is that it has been entirely focused on the safety of passengers inside the vehicles and that it hasn't put nearly enough effort into protecting the lives of the pedestrians outside of them. This is particularly critical now since the number of reported pedestrian deaths has gone up to the highest it's been since 1981. Now it appears that's going to change.

The NHTSA has just proposed a new set of federal motor vehicle safety standards that are specifically designed to protect pedestrians who are struck by vehicles. Meeting these new standards would force many automotive dealers to rethink the way they design their vehicles, and it seems that pickup trucks would be among those that will have to change the most.

In order to reduce the number of automotive-related fatalities, the NHTSA first had to consider the actual causes of fatal injuries when it comes to child and adult pedestrians. The main focal point of the organization's proposal revolves around preventing head injuries. It appears to be predicated on the idea that head-to-hood injuries are an area of particular concern.

The NHTSA's proposal consists of a 238-page document that goes into immense detail on how to address this. If passed, it would require that all American vehicle manufacturers perform rigorous testing to ensure any vehicles sold in the country meet this new standard. "The proposed standard would establish test procedures simulating a head-to-hood impact and performance requirements to minimize the risk of head injury," the document (PDF) states (pg. 2-3). "This NPRM is based on a Global Technical Regulation (GTR) on pedestrian protection, with focused enhancements to address safety problems and a regulatory framework unique to the United States." The document states that these GTR regulations are already widespread in numerous other countries, so most vehicles built for international sales already follow these guidelines (pg. 17).

This means that those vehicles that are unable to pass this test will need to be redesigned in order to be made and sold in the U.S. As you might imagine, pickup trucks are the models that seem most likely to be affected by these changes, as they have gotten much bigger over the years.

According to the proposal (pg. 2), this new bill is going to apply to "vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 4,536 kilograms (kg) (10,000 pounds (lb)) or less." This means that several large transport vehicles, such as buses and cargo trucks, will be exempt. There are a few street-legal tank-sized personal vehicles out there, but the vast majority of personal transportation vehicles will need to follow the new rules. Even the largest pickup trucks you can currently get, such as the Ford Super Duty F-450 and the Chevrolet Silverado HD, are well under this threshold.

The document states that some pickup trucks on the market have already shown that they can pass testing, and it already mentioned that there are many international vehicles that already follow the GTR standards. That said, "the entire pickup truck and large SUV segments (about 22% of the U.S. passenger vehicle 2020 sales, according to data provided by Wards Automotive)" would be affected and potentially need redesign work to fit these new standards. "This proposal would ensure that uniquely American platforms, such as pickups, would provide the proposed level of pedestrian head protection." (pg. 17-18).

This is certainly going to be a huge undertaking for pickup truck manufacturers, but the NHTSA contends that these changes are imperative as its proposal "would mitigate approximately 67.4 fatalities annually."

The NHTSA's proposal was announced on September 8 and is open for comment for 60 days before the Federal Register will decide whether or not to ratify it. The document itself proposes that this would take effect, "The first September 1, two (2) years following the date of publication of any final rule in the Federal Register, with optional early compliance permitted. Final-stage manufacturers and alterers would be provided an additional year to comply." (pg. 2).

This means that vehicle manufacturers who have already reached a late stage of development on current vehicles will be allowed to complete their designs unimpeded, and those that were already planned for launch in the next two years will not have to worry about meeting these new criteria. Should the new set of regulations be ratified, however, new pickup trucks that are planned for release any time after September 2026 will need to make sure they can pass these safety standards.