The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has rigorously evaluated its major programs as a matter of policy since 1970. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards began in 1975. The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and Executive Order 12866, "Regulatory Planning and Review," issued in October 1993, oblige Federal agencies to evaluate their existing programs and regulations. This five-year plan for the Evaluation Division of the Office of Regulatory Analysis and Evaluation (ORAE) in NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis presents and discusses the vehicle and behavioral programs, regulations, technologies, and related areas ORAE proposes to evaluate, and it summarizes the findings of ORAE’s past evaluations. ORAE is one of several NHTSA units that perform data analysis and evaluative work. These groups work together for a data-driven, quantitative approach to identifying safety problems and evaluating potential remedies. ORAE generally concentrates on statistical analyses of national or multi-State crash data to evaluate the effectiveness and benefits of existing vehicle safety regulations and technologies, and to study behavioral safety trends. Vehicle safety evaluations in this plan address crash avoidance, crashworthiness, compatibility, and recalls. They study cars, light trucks and vans, heavy trucks, and motorcycles. Behavioral safety evaluations address impaired driving, occupant protection, child passenger safety, motorcycle safety, pedestrians, and emergency care (injury survivability). NHTSA welcomes public comments on the plan. (Author/publisher)
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