Crash test data will be on window stickers

updated 3:49 p.m. ET Sept. 7, 2006

WASHINGTON - Car buyers will have a new tool when shopping — government crash test data right on the window sticker.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration completed regulations on Thursday requiring its crash test data to be included on window stickers on new vehicles by September 2007.

The stickers provide information about pricing, fuel economy and equipment in the vehicle. Crash test data are currently found on the government’s Web site — http://www.safercar.gov/ — but the changes will make the information more accessible at dealer showrooms and lots.

“They’ll be able to go from car to car and compare that data,” said Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, whose “Stars on Cars” bill was included in last year’s federal highway legislation.

NHTSA conducts vehicle crash tests and rates them on a scale of one to five stars — with five stars as the highest score — to help consumers evaluate a vehicle’s ability to withstand a crash and its likelihood of rolling over.

The rules cover new passenger cars, sport utility vehicles and vans, but not pickup trucks. Pickups were not covered by earlier legislation that led to the stickers.

Some automakers, including General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., have said they would put the data on all vehicles. Honda Motor Co. was the first to introduce the sticker information, beginning with the 2006 model year.

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