VERITY NOW Applauds NTSB Chair for Supporting Gender Equity in Crash Testing

Washington, D.C. – Today, VERITY NOW, a coalition advocating to end the gender discrimination in U.S. vehicle crash testing, released the following statements after National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy demonstrated support for gender equity in car safety under questioning from Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). 

“The gender discrimination in U.S. vehicle crash testing is a scandal hidden in plain sight. Chair Homendy deserves credit for acknowledging the gender bias in car safety and for working with her colleagues to end it,” said former Congresswoman Susan Molinari and Co-Chair of VERITY NOW. “It is unacceptable that NHTSA refuses to utilize the same nature and number of tests for women - along with the same quality of testing equipment - that they use for men.”

“Today Chair Homendy joined the growing network of safety experts, crash survivors, and gender equity advocates who support updates to the 5-Star Safety Ratings program that will finally give women the same protection as men,” said Beth Brooke, Co-Chair of VERITY NOW and Former Global Vice Chair of Public Policy for EY. “The calls to eliminate the gender discrimination in crash testing are growing louder by the day and NHTSA can no longer ignore this important gender equity issue. We are simply asking for women’s safety to be considered equally as important as men’s safety.”

In her response to questions asked by Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) in today’s House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, Chair Homendy said NHTSA “should address” the gender inequity in crash testing and said the issue “is something that we are looking at.” A full transcript is available upon request. 

VERITY (Vehicle Equity Rules in Transportation) NOW is a coalition voicing concern about gender inequities in car safety and raising awareness with policymakers who have the power to fix them.