New Brake Requirements May Lower Car Insurance Quotes

By: Shannon Brown, Car Insurance Analyst
CheaperCarInsurance.com

After all the problems with Toyota vehicles this year, the Obama administration is mulling over the idea of developing new regulations for automobile designs. They are considering mandating requirements on vehicles for smart-brake technology as well as black boxes. This would make cars safer to drive and possibly reduce car insurance quotes.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is suggesting a requirement for all new vehicles to be equipped with a brake-override system. The new requirements would update the current brake system to prevent the vehicle’s throttle from sticking. This would ensure that a vehicle stops when the gas and brake pedals are both pressed down. If it proves successful in improving vehicle safety, regulators are prepared to put the requirement into effect. Auto insurance companies would take this into consideration when factoring car insurance quotes.

Black Boxes: Not Just for Airplanes

Black boxes are designed to record crash data. These data recorders verify events 5-30 seconds prior to a crash and afterwards. Data from these recorders are used for analyzing after a crash to:

• Measure the speed the vehicle was going prior to the crash
• Determine whether or not the brakes were applied
• Provide additional diagnostic facts about the vehicle

Such information can be used by insurance companies to determine future car insurance quotes for drivers. Safety advocates suggest the information regarding the new requirements should be made public. Many brands such as GM and Ford already use black boxes in several of their models. Toyota is believed to have used the black boxes in many of their models; however upon investigation through the recent recalls, it is indicated the event data recorders were unreliable. The current systems Toyota uses require a special analytic device that is said to be ‘experimental’ and is not consistent. The U.S. highway safety regulations on black boxes would require all vehicles to have updated black boxes installed.

Currently the auto safety regulators are taking a closer look at vehicle designs. Reviewing factors such as engine electronic systems will help them in determining if the current standards need to be revised. Upon reviewing the vehicles, if it is indicated that requiring the systems will reduce sudden acceleration, the new rules will go into affect immediately. In improving the vehicle safety of new vehicles, drivers can expect to see lower car insurance quotes as a result.

Who is Behind the New Requirements for Brake Systems?

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers has agreed to participate with law makers in improving vehicle safety. If it is discovered that the new requirements would improve the performance of a vehicle, it will go to the House subcommittee for hearing. This would be the fourth congressional hearing as a result of the Toyota Motor Corp.’s recall for sudden acceleration issues. If it goes through, insurance companies will most likely factor in cheaper car insurance quotes for the safer vehicles.

If the hearing passes for the new requirements on vehicle designs, the NHTSA will mandate:

• Strict penalties on manufacturers who neglect to install the updated systems
• More precise safety standards
• Greater admission of data that auto makers present in defect investigations

The NHTSA will review the benefits of applying mandatory event data recorders in vehicles as well as advanced-brake systems. They plan to evaluate any features that are in question for vehicle safety including:

• Electronic throttle technology
• Brake override systems
• Accelerator pedals

With hopes that the requirements will go through as mandatory for updating these features, drivers could see lower car insurance quotes as a result. Improving vehicle safety will further enhance road safety and prevent auto accidents from occurring and keeping auto insurance rates down for everyone.

Posted: March 13, 2010