Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Honda to put crash ratings on stickers

By Lisa Zagaroli / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Error processing SSI file Comment on this story Send this story to a friend Get Home Delivery

WASHINGTON -- Buying a safer car may become easier.

Honda Motor Co. announced Tuesday that it will begin posting government crash test ratings on the window stickers of all 2006 car and trucks. Government officials and safety advocates hope the voluntary move will prompt other auto companies to follow suit so consumers will have the information at their fingertips while shopping.

"It would be wonderful if it did," said Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The agency that regulates auto safety has a system that rates vehicles on the crash protection provided in frontal and side-impact crashes and rollovers, with five stars being the best.

Until now, consumers had to be proactive to obtain the information. They could view it on the Internet at sites like www.safercar.gov, or request a copy of NHTSA's publication, "Buying a Safer Car."

The move by Honda, and an effort by U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, to make the crash test ratings mandatory on window stickers, make it more likely the information will be available to anyone shopping on a lot for a new car.

A new-vehicle's window sticker -- known as a Monroney in the auto industry -- now has information such as price, vehicle features, fuel economy figures, emissions and where the vehicle was built.

Rob Braziel, legislative counsel for the National Automobile Dealers Association, said the group hasn't taken a formal position on the matter but was concerned the label was already "overburdened." A spokesman for U.S. auto companies agreed.

"We've got to really look at the best way we can get the information to consumers, and the Monroney label right now has a great deal of information on it," said Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. "If you add more information on it in its current form, you could end up with consumer overload. That could end up with consumers ignoring some or all of it, and nobody wants that situation."

Ford Motor Co. spokesman Dan Jarvis said the company favors an approach consistent among all automakers that would be easy for consumers to understand.

Sally Greenberg, senior product safety counsel for Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, said the atmosphere is turning on an issue the organization has been pushing since at least 2000.

"It provides incentives to automakers to continue to improve the safety of the cars they sell," Greenberg said.

"For Honda, it's a winning strategy because they have so many vehicles that meet the government's five-star highest crash test rating," she added.

"Honda was smart to get out front on this. Their vehicles overall do very well on crash tests. It certainly provides an incentive for other automakers, too."

Honda plans to include government safety ratings on all 2006 model year Honda and Acura cars and light-duty trucks, said John Mendel, senior vice president of automobile operations for American Honda Motor Co.

DeWine's proposal, which he calls "Stars on Cars," is part of a federal highway bill being negotiated by a conference committee in Congress.

"I am pleased that leaders at American Honda are taking the initiative to voluntarily include this commonsense consumer education measure on the window stickers of their new cars," DeWine said.

You can reach Lisa Zagaroli at (202) 906-8206 or lzagaroli@ detnews.com.