Federal Agency Proposes Adopting UN Rule to Reduce Pedestrian Casualties

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on Sept. 9 proposed adopting a new rule for heavy-weight vehicles such as SUVs and pickup trucks to decrease the risk of pedestrian injury or death, saving up to 67 lives a year. With single-vehicle crashes resulting in 88 percent of pedestrian fatalities, the NHTSA said it is pushing for a new federal standard to ensure that “passenger vehicles are designed to reduce the risk of serious-to-fatal child and adult head injury in pedestrian crashes.” The standard involves improving the criterion for testing simulated head-to-hood impact. The proposed rule stems from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law initiative to meet the United Nations Global Technical Regulations....