"I'd like to begin to focus on the event before the crash," NHTSA administrator Jeffrey Runge told the Society of Automotive Engineers in Washington last May. "We may have plateaued out in terms of crashworthiness."

Whereas NHTSA regulatory initiatives for the last 34 years have sought to boost crash protection devices, such as seatbelts and airbags, which mitigate the harm from crashes, the new safety devices to be tested and implemented by NHTSA seek to avoid a crash altogether. These devices use new "smart technology" currently touted by car manufacturers and available in high-end vehicles to avoid, among other things, rollovers, drifting in lanes, and drowsy drivers. One such measure being considered is electronic stability control, which adjusts a vehicle's braking and steering in an emergency, reducing the chance of rollover.

Though safety advocates approve of any new attempts to increase the safety of vehicles, many have expressed concern that NHTSA is abandoning its historic mission of protecting passengers in a crash. They also dispute NHTSA's claim that there are no further advances to be made in crash protection. According to NHTSA officials, a new proposed rule on side-curtain air bags may be the last major crash-protection regulation. The shift in NHTSA's policy is already evident in its research and development projects, which focus increasingly on crash avoidance technology.