WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday it has proposed new standards meant to reduce harm from vehicle-to-pedestrian crashes.

The standards, if enacted, would apply to all vehicles with a gross weight of 10,000 pounds or less — a cap that includes every new consumer vehicle currently sold in the United States. The rules would set test procedures simulating a head-to-hood impact and performance requirements to minimize the risk of pedestrian head injury.

“We have a crisis of roadway deaths, and it’s even worse among vulnerable road users like pedestrians," said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Sophie Shulman in a press release. "This proposed rule will ensure that vehicles will be designed to protect those inside and outside from serious injury or death. We will continue to work to make our roads safer for everyone and help protect vulnerable road users.”

Though the rule strives to improve safety for America's increasingly dangerous roadways, the agency estimates that the changes will not dramatically reduce the annual number of pedestrian fatalities.

Shulman noted that between 2013 and 2022, annual pedestrian fatalities increased 57% from 4,779 to 7,522. About 88% of those fatalities in 2022 were from single-vehicle crashes, per NHTSA data.

The agency estimated that the new standards proposed Monday would save 67 lives each year.

The cost burden to automakers for meeting the new requirements, NHSTA estimated, will range from $2.86 to $3.50 per passenger car and $3.29 to $4.08 for multipurpose passenger vehicles — a category that includes trucks, SUVs, crossovers and vans. The total industry-wide cost is projected at $48.9 million to $60.4 million.

Multipurpose passenger vehicles, which are far more popular among U.S. consumers, cause about 49% of pedestrian deaths from front-end collisions, according to the agency. Passenger cars cause about 37%. Large trucks, buses and unknown vehicles account for the rest.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the nation's top trade group for major automakers and its primary voice on government affairs, responded to an inquiry from The Detroit News on the proposal by emphasizing that it supports roadway safety measures that consider many factors beyond just vehicles — like infrastructure, law enforcement and consumer education.

“Safety is a top priority. Automakers have voluntarily developed and introduced many crash avoidance technologies to help make roads safer for pedestrians and road users," the organization said in a statement. "We provided input to NHTSA in the early stages of this process and will review the proposal released today.”

The group also emphasized that aligning U.S. standards with global technical regulations remains critical, too. NHTSA said in its press release that the new proposal does so.

The trade group, automakers and all members of the public have 60 days to provide comments on the draft rule once it is published in the Federal Register. As of Monday afternoon, the proposal was not yet published.

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