VERITY NOW Applauds U.S. House Passage of the INVEST Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  VERITY NOW, a leading coalition voice promoting equity in auto safety, released the following statement from Catherine McCullough, a transportation policy expert and VERITY NOW coalition member, following the passage of the INVEST Act by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill includes language calling for immediate updates to the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) 5-Star Safety Rating System, that would for the first time require NHTSA to update NCAP test procedures and crash test dummies to represent vulnerable vehicle occupants, including  women, elderly, and children:

"We are excited the House passed the INVEST Act which includes important language addressing the safety bias in automotive crash testing standards. For decades women have ben underrepresented in vehicle crash tests leading to a higher rate of injury and death for female drivers. This bill takes an significant first step in addressing those inequities by pushing NCAP to update their long outdated standards,” stated McCullough.

We look forward to working with Senators Cantwell, Peters, and Fischer to get this bill across the finish line,” stated McCullough.

###

About VERITY NOW

VERITY NOW (Vehicle Equity Rules in Transportation) strives to achieve equity in vehicle safety by educating and advocating for crash testing standards that protect everybody, regardless of gender, height, weight, or age.

Inherent biases in crash testing put women, young people, the elderly, and heavier body types at significantly higher risk of injury or death in car crashes. This is unacceptable. Updates need to be made to vehicle crash testing standards and practices to understand better the safety needs of a broader range of body types. VERITY NOW is a group of organizations and individuals who share a common concern about these inequities and work with policymakers to implement change to save lives.