The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, which created the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), represented a full-scale effort at establishing safety standards for all motor vehicles.
The need for some kind of regulatory agency responsible for establishing and enforcing safety standards on the nation’s roadways reflected the growing importance of the AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY, both because of its economic function and because Americans were increasingly reliant on private transportation. Public awareness of the issue of transportation safety had been raised in 1965 through a combination of governmental and private efforts. A Senate investigation led by Senator Abraham Ribicoff of Connecticut discovered that since 1960 nearly one out of every five cars manufactured in the United States had been recalled, many of them for safety defects. Attempts at improving transportation safety were further bolstered by Ralph Nader, a Harvard Law School graduate and consumer advocate, with the publication of his book Unsafe at Any Speed (1965). Attacking the poor safety record of the automobile industry, Nader argued that cars such as the Corvair were designed with styling, rather than safety, in mind.
Nader’s efforts paved the way for the National Traffic and Motor Safety Act of 1966, which set safety standards for vehicles on public highways, provided for inspection to ensure compliance, and created the National Motor Vehicle Safety Advisory Council.
At the same time, LYNDON B. JOHNSON, eager to consolidate the more than 30 government agencies responsible for regulating all types of transportation, pushed for the creation of a catchall agency designed to streamline and modernize the nation’s transit systems. The goal was to put the responsibility for regulating air, water, and road transit all under one roof. To this end, the Department of Transportation (DOT) was created in 1966. At a White House signing ceremony, the president proclaimed that the task of the newly created department was “to untangle, to coordinate, and to build the national transportation system for America that America is deserving of.”
One goal of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 was to create an agency responsible for setting safety standards for new cars. This agency, housed within the Department of Transportation, was the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Beginning with 1968-model cars, the NHTSA issued a series of safety standards designed to reduce the number of traffic fatalities and accidents, responsible for some 50,000 deaths per year. These standards included uniform bumper heights, seat belts, and improved braking systems.
There have long been more vehicles on the road in the United States than any other country, yet the United States enjoys one of the best safety records in the world. The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act is at least partially responsible for this record.
Further reading: James J. Flink, The Automobile Age (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1988).
—Kirk Tyvela
World History
