Too many ratings? NHTSA adds one more

The National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. already publicizes crash ratings (based on one- to five-star rankings) for side and front impacts, and it will add similar safety evaluations of vehicles in rollover accidents ('01) and performance of their headlamps and brakes (after '02). With all those star ratings out there, the public may be confused over which cars or trucks are among the safest. The solution? One more rating system. This one, a composite that will define overall vehicle safety performance, has completed its first round of review and is likely to be on the books in about two years, Rosalyn G. Millman, NHTSA's acting administrator, says. "We know it's starting to add up to a lot of different scores," Ms. Millman says of all the ratings. "We're concerned it will be more confusing to consumers." Still, she says she is encouraged by the overall success of the current rating system for crash protection. NHTSA's website gets 15,000 hits a day for crash rankings and "carmakers have gone from fighting (the test) to marketing it," she points out.