| National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act | |
|---|---|
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| United States Congress | |
| |
| Citation | Pub. L. 89–563, 80 Stat. 718 |
| Territorial extent | United States |
| Passed by | United States Senate |
| Passed | June 24, 1966 |
| Passed by | United States House of Representatives |
| Passed | August 17, 1966 |
| Signed by | Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson |
| Signed | September 9, 1966 |
| First chamber: United States Senate | |
| Bill citation | S. 3005 (89 th Cong.) |
| Second chamber: United States House of Representatives | |
| Bill citation | H.R. 13228 |
| Related legislation | |
| Highway Safety Act of 1966, Pub. L. 89–564, S. 3052, 80 Stat. 731, enacted September 9, 1966 | |
| Summary | |
| Reduce deaths and injuries resulting from traffic accidents by establishing motor vehicle safety standards and safety research programs | |
The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was enacted in the United States in 1966 to empower the federal government to set and administer new safety standards for motor vehicles and road traffic safety. The Act was the first mandatory federal safety standards for motor vehicles. The Act created the National Highway Safety Bureau (now National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). The Act was one of a number of initiatives by the government in response to increasing number of cars and associated fatalities and injuries on the road following a period when the number of people killed on the road had increased 6-fold and the number of vehicles was up 11-fold since 1925. The reduction of the rate of death attributable to motor-vehicle crashes in the United States represents the successful public health response to a great technologic advance of the 20th century—the motorization of the United States.[1][2][3][4]
- ^ Jensen, Christopher (November 26, 2015). "50 Years Ago, 'Unsafe at Any Speed' Shook the Auto World". The New York Times. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
Few drivers could imagine owning a car these days that did not come with airbags, antilock brakes and seatbelts. But 50 years ago motorists went without such basic safety features. That was before a young lawyer named Ralph Nader came along with a book, "Unsafe at Any Speed," that was could change the auto industry. It accused automakers of failing to make cars as safe as possible. Less than a year after the book was published, a balky Congress created the federal safety agency that became the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — an agency whose stated mission is to save lives, prevent injuries and reduce crashes...By the spring of 1966, "Unsafe at Any Speed" was a best seller for nonfiction...In September 1966 — about 10 months after the book was published — President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, requiring the adoption of new or upgraded vehicle safety standards, and creating an agency to enforce them and supervise safety recalls.
- ^ Hendrickson, Kimberly A. (2003). "National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act". In Kutler, Stanley I. (ed.). Dictionary of American History. Vol. 5 (3rd ed.). Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 561–562.
Signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on 9 September 1966, this act created the first mandatory federal safety standards for motor vehicles.
- ^ Brumagen, Regan. "Unsafe at Any Speed, Work by Nader". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
Unsafe at Any Speed, investigative report on U.S. automobile safety published in 1965 by consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who was then a 31-year-old attorney. Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-in Dangers of the American Automobile excoriated the American automotive industry, based in Detroit, for its prioritization of style and design over consumer safety. Nader's book eventually became a best seller and helped spur the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966, the country's first significant automobile safety legislation.
- ^ Wyden, Peter (1987). The Unknown Iacocca. William Morrow and Company. ISBN 068806616X.
Nader, another poor boy, rose to national hero status on the critic's side of America's car wars. His 1965 best-seller Unsafe at Any Speed focused on the appalling accident record of Chevrolet's Corvair and was largely responsible for the congressional passage, in 1966, of the nation's first reasonably stringent auto safety law.
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