An Assessment of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Rating System for Rollover Resistance Special Report 265 (2002) / Chapter Skim
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Chapter 4: Consumer Information
Chapter 4: Consumer Information
Pages 64-83
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From page 64... ...
. Investigation of consumer response to NHTSA's rollover information requires empirical data on vehicle buying behavior in general and on consumers' use of NHTSA's rollover resistance rating system in particular.
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From page 65... ...
. Although manufacturers perform extensive market research and obtain proprietary information about the preferences of their customers, the open literature contains few reports of research on the behavior of buyers of the approximately 17 million light vehicles sold in the United States annually.1 Consumer Interest in and Use of Vehicle Safety Information Many consumers shopping for an automobile regard vehicle safety as important.
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From page 66... ...
Development of Vehicle Safety Information Given the complexity discussed above, the challenge of developing an effective consumer information rating system is clear. According to Shopping for Safety, a previous congressionally mandated report on consumer automotive safety information (TRB 1996, 3)
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From page 67... ...
. In the specific case of rollover, information presented in terms of rollover resistance could influence decisions differently from the same information presented in terms of rollover propensity (Bettman et al.
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From page 68... ...
NHTSA's Process for Developing Consumer Information on Rollover In 1997, NHTSA established a new department within its Plans and Policy Division -- the Consumer Automotive Safety Information Division (Consumer Division) -- and assigned this new division the task of developing and disseminating consumer safety materials.
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From page 69... ...
A further investigation by Equals Three Communications (2000) explored consumer awareness and understanding of rollover problems and evaluated comprehension of two alternative texts for explaining the rollover resistance ratings.
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From page 70... ...
70 • NHTSA's Rating System for Rollover Resistance: An Assessment Option 1: Star Rating The rollover rating for this vehicle is: Option 2: Line Graph Least Stable Most Stable 1.06 1.44 All Vehicles All 1.06 1.26 Light Trucks and Vans This Vehicle All 1.29 1.44 Passenger Cars Option 3: Graphic Rating The Rollover Rating for this Vehicle is Circled: More Stable Average Less Stable Option 4: Letter Grade The Rollover Rating for this Vehicle is Circled: C A B More Stable Average Less Stable Option 5: Number Score The Rollover Rating for this Vehicle is: 149 FIGURE 4 -1 Options for rollover information labels. (SOURCE: Equals Three Communications 1999b.)
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From page 71... ...
Once the rollover resistance ratings had been prepared for dissemination to the public, the agency did not conduct any large-scale formal testing of its information products. Furthermore, NHTSA has not surveyed consumers to determine whether the published ratings are influencing their vehicle purchase decisions, and the committee could not find analogous surveys by the industry.
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From page 72... ...
Consequently, overreliance on focus groups can be problematic.5 Focus groups by themselves are not able to provide sufficient evidence to support reliable conclusions about what consumers know or believe about rollover risk, or whether the ratings are meaningful, easy to interpret and understand, and unambiguous for the public. According to recommended practices for developing consumer information, structured, open-ended interviews with a representative sample of consumers would be a better way to determine consumers' beliefs about vehicle safety and rollover.
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From page 73... ...
Criteria in Shopping for Safety Revisiting the criteria for good summary measures of vehicle safety performance provided in Shopping for Safety (TRB 1996, 110) could help NHTSA improve its vehicle safety information.
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. AVAILABILITY AND USE OF NHTSA's ROLLOVER RESISTANCE RATINGS As discussed earlier, the absence of empirical data on consumer behavior prevented the committee from making a definitive judgment about the usefulness of NHTSA's rollover ratings to consumers.
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From page 75... ...
36,107 Frequently Asked Questions www.nhtsa.dot.gov/hot/rollover 1:03 About Rollover Resistance Ratings Rollover Rated Vehicle www.nhtsa.dot.gov/hot/rollover/ 18,874 3:02 Details fullWebd.html New Car Assessment www.nhtsa.dot.gov/hot/rollover/ 17,997 3:18 Program Frontal and Side 2001Rollover.html Crash Test Ratings 2:24 NHTSA's Rollover www.nhtsa.dot.gov/hot/rollover/ 5,364 Resistance Ratings -- Figures figures.html 1:56 NHTSA's Rollover www.nhtsa.dot.gov/hot/rollover/ 663 Resistance Ratings -- Q&A QnA.html wysiwyg://CONTENT.1/http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/etc/reports/rollover_01_b.html 8
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From page 76... ...
Evaluation NHTSA needs to test the effectiveness of consumer communications before putting them into widespread use, and continue to evaluate them once in use. The agency needs to evaluate rigorously how people are using the rollover resistance ratings in the context of the entire NCAP information program.
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From page 77... ...
. Another option might be to present a rollover rating -- instead of a rollover resistance rating -- using a tilted vehicle or a similar graphic.
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From page 78... ...
Under the vehicle category, the reader would find information on vehicle safety ratings, including the rollover resistance ratings. The committee believes it would be desirable for NHTSA to expand both the levels and quality of its hierarchy of information on rollover, particularly since the Internet is the agency's primary means of disseminating rollover information and is highly conducive to hierarchical presentation of information.
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From page 79... ...
, and that reaching consensus is difficult.11 There are also some drawbacks to providing a single summary measure. A major concern is that such a measure could conceal large variations in performance across different test types, with the possible result of masking some poor performers.12 Despite these concerns, the committee suggests that, in the context of its longer-term initiatives to improve consumer automotive safety information, NHTSA monitor efforts by groups in the United States and overseas to develop summary measures of vehicle safety performance and review the options for developing its own summary measure of overall motor vehicle safety.
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4-4. NHTSA should monitor efforts by groups in the United States and over seas to develop summary measures of vehicle safety performance, and review options for developing its own summary measure of overall motor vehicle safety.
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From page 81... ...
2000. Consumer Information Regulations; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Rollover Prevention; Request for Comments.
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Vehicle Safety Issues, Vol. 4, available from Insurance Research Council, Amer ican Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters, 718 Prov idence Road, P.O.
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From page 83... ...
1996. Special Report 248: Shopping for Safety: Providing Consumer Automotive Safety Information.
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