Title 49

SECTION 575.302

575.302 Vehicle labeling of safety rating information (compliance required for model year 2012 and later vehicles manufactured on or after January 31, 2012).

§ 575.302 Vehicle labeling of safety rating information (compliance required for model year 2012 and later vehicles manufactured on or after January 31, 2012).

(a) Purpose and scope. The purpose of this section is to aid potential purchasers in the selection of new passenger motor vehicles by providing them with safety rating information developed by NHTSA in its New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) testing. Manufacturers of passenger motor vehicles described in paragraph (b) of this section are required to include this information on the Monroney label. Although NHTSA also makes the information available through means such as postings at http://www.safercar.gov and http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov, the additional Monroney label information is intended to provide consumers with relevant information at the point of sale.

(b) Application. This section applies to automobiles with a GVWR of 10,000 pounds or less, manufactured on or after January 31, 2012 that have vehicle identification numbers that identify the vehicles to be model year 2012 or later and that are required by the Automobile Information Disclosure Act, 15 U.S.C. 1231-1233, to have price sticker labels (Monroney labels), (e.g., passenger vehicles, station wagons, passenger vans, and sport utility vehicles). Model Year 2012 or later vehicles manufactured prior to January 31, 2012, at the manufacturer's option, may be labeled according to the provisions of this § 575.302 provided the ratings placed on the safety rating label are derived from vehicle testing conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration under the enhanced NCAP testing and rating program.

(1) Monroney label means the label placed on new automobiles with the manufacturer's suggested retail price and other consumer information, as specified at 15 U.S.C. 1231-1233.

(2) Safety rating label means the label with NCAP safety rating information, as specified at 15 U.S.C. 1232(g). The safety rating label is part of the Monroney label.

(d) Required label.

(1) Except as specified in paragraph (f) of this section, each vehicle must have a safety rating label that is part of its Monroney label, meets the requirements specified in paragraph (e) of this section, and conforms in content, format and sequence to the sample label depicted in Figure 1 of this section. If NHTSA has not provided a safety rating for any category of vehicle performance for a vehicle, the manufacturer may use the smaller label specified in paragraph (f) of this section.

(2) The label must depict the star ratings for that vehicle as reported to the vehicle manufacturer by NHTSA.

(3) Whenever NHTSA informs a manufacturer in writing of a new safety rating for a specified vehicle or the continued applicability of an existing safety rating for a new model year, including any safety concerns, the manufacturer shall include the new or continued safety rating on vehicles manufactured on or after the date 30 calendar days after receipt by the manufacturer of the information.

(4) If, for a vehicle that has an existing safety rating for a category, NHTSA informs the manufacturer in writing that it has approved an optional NCAP test that will cover that category, the manufacturer may depict vehicles manufactured on or after the date of receipt of the information as “Not Rated” or “To Be Rated” for that category.

(5) The text “Overall Vehicle Score,” “Frontal Crash,” “Side Crash,” “Rollover,” “Driver,” “Passenger,” “Front Seat,” “Rear Seat” and where applicable, “Not Rated” or “To Be Rated,” the star graphic indicating each rating, as well as any text in the header and footer areas of the label, must have a minimum font size of 12 point. All remaining text and symbols on the label (including the star graphic specified in paragraph (e)(9)(i) of this section), must have a minimum font size of 8 point.

(e) Required information and format.

(1) Safety rating label border. The safety rating label must be surrounded by a solid dark line that is a minimum of 3 points in width.

(2) Safety rating label size and legibility. The safety rating label must be presented in a legible, visible, and prominent fashion that covers at least 8 percent of the total area of the Monroney label (i.e., including the safety rating label) or an area with a minimum of 4 1/2 inches in length and 3 1/2 inches in height on the Monroney label, whichever is larger.

(3) Heading area. The words “Government 5-Star Safety Ratings” must be in boldface, capital letters that are light in color and centered. The background must be dark.

(4) Overall vehicle score area.

(i) The overall vehicle score area must be placed immediately below the heading area and must have dark text and a light background. The overall vehicle score rating must be displayed with the maximum star rating achieved.

(ii) The words “Overall Vehicle Score” must be in boldface aligned to the left side of the label. The achieved star rating must be on the same line and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(iii) The words “Based on the combined ratings of frontal, side and rollover” followed by the statement “Should ONLY be compared to other vehicles of similar size and weight” (on the following line) must be placed at the bottom of the overall vehicle score area and left justified.

(iv) If NHTSA has not released the star rating for the “Frontal Crash,” “Side Crash,” or “Rollover” area, the text “Not Rated” must be used in boldface. However, as an alternative, the words “To Be Rated” (in boldface) may be used if the manufacturer has received written notification from NHTSA that the vehicle has been chosen for the NCAP frontal, side, and/or rollover testing such that there will be ratings in all three areas.

(5) Frontal crash area.

(i) The frontal crash area must be placed immediately below the overall vehicle score area, separated by a dark line that is a minimum of three points in width. The text must be dark against a light background. Both the driver and the right front seat passenger frontal crash test ratings must be displayed with the maximum star ratings achieved.

(ii) The words “Frontal Crash” must be in boldface, cover two lines, and be aligned to the left side of the label.

(iii) The word “Driver” must be on the same line as the word “Frontal” in “Frontal Crash,” and be horizontally centered, left justified and vertically aligned to the top of the frontal crash area. The achieved star rating for “Driver” must be on the same line and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(iv) If NHTSA has not released the star rating for the “Driver” position, the text “Not Rated” must be used in boldface. However, as an alternative, the words “To Be Rated” (in boldface) may be used if the manufacturer has received written notification from NHTSA that the vehicle has been chosen for NCAP testing. Both texts must be on the same line as the text “Driver” and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(v) The word “Passenger” must be on the same line as the word “Crash” in “Frontal Crash,” below the word “Driver,” and be horizontally centered, left justified and vertically aligned to the top of the frontal crash area. The achieved star rating for “Passenger” must be on the same line and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(vi) If NHTSA has not released the star rating for “Passenger,” the words “Not Rated” must be used in boldface. However, as an alternative, the words “To Be Rated” (in boldface) may be used if the manufacturer has received written notification from NHTSA that the vehicle has been chosen for NCAP testing. Both texts must be on the same line as the text “Passenger” and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(vii) The words “Based on the risk of injury in a frontal impact.” followed (on the next line) by the statement “Should ONLY be compared to other vehicles of similar size and weight.” must be placed at the bottom of the frontal crash area and left justified.

(6) Side crash area.

(i) The side crash area must be immediately below the frontal crash area, separated by a dark line that is a minimum of three points in width. The text must be dark against a light background. Both the driver and the rear seat passenger side crash test rating must be displayed with the maximum star rating achieved.

(ii) The words “Side Crash” must cover two lines, and be aligned to the left side of the label in boldface.

(iii) The words “Front seat” must be on the same line as the word “Side” in “Side Crash” and be horizontally centered, left justified and vertically aligned to the top of the side crash area. The achieved star rating for “Front seat” must be on the same line as the words “Front seat” and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(iv) If NHTSA has not released the star rating for “Front Seat,” the words “Not Rated” must be used in boldface. However, as an alternative, the words “To Be Rated” (in boldface) may be used if the manufacturer has received written notification from NHTSA that the vehicle has been chosen for NCAP testing. Both texts must be on the same line as the text “Front seat” and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(v) The words “Rear seat” must be on the same line as the word “Crash” in “Side Crash,” below the word “Front seat,” and be horizontally centered, left justified and vertically aligned to the top of the side crash area. The achieved star rating for “Rear seat” must be on the same line as the text “Rear seat” and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(vi) If NHTSA has not released the star rating for “Rear Seat,” the text “Not Rated” must be used in boldface. However, as an alternative, the text “To Be Rated” (in boldface) may be used if the manufacturer has received written notification from NHTSA that the vehicle has been chosen for NCAP testing. Both texts must be on the same line as the text “Rear seat” and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(vii) The words “Based on the risk of injury in a side impact.” must be placed at the bottom of the side crash area and left justified.

(7) Rollover area.

(i) The rollover area must be immediately below the side crash area, separated by a dark line that is a minimum of three points in width. The text must be dark against a light background. The rollover test rating must be displayed with the maximum star rating achieved.

(ii) The word “Rollover” must be aligned to the left side of the label in boldface. The achieved star rating must be on the same line and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(iii) If NHTSA has not tested the vehicle, the words “Not Rated” must be used in boldface. However, as an alternative, the words “To Be Rated” (in boldface) may be used if the manufacturer has received written notification from NHTSA that the vehicle has been chosen for NCAP testing. Both texts must be on the same line as the text “Rollover” and be aligned to the right side of the label and left justified.

(iv) The words “Based on the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle crash.” must be placed at the bottom of the rollover area and left justified.

(8) Graphics. The star graphic is depicted in Figure 3 and the safety concern graphic is depicted in Figure 4.

(9) Footer area. The footer area must be placed at the bottom of the label; the text must be in boldface letters that are light in color and centered. The background must be dark. The text must state the following, in the specified order, on separate lines:

(i) “Star ratings range from 1 to 5 stars (★ ★ ★ ★ ★) with 5 being the highest.”

(ii) “Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).”

(iii) “www.safercar.gov or 1-888-327-4236.”

(10) Safety concern. For vehicle tests for which NHTSA reports a safety concern as part of the safety rating, and for overall vehicle scores that are derived from vehicle tests for at least one of which NHTSA reports a safety concern as part of the safety rating, the label must:

(i) In both the rating area in which the safety concern was identified and in the overall vehicle score area, depict, as a superscript to the star rating, the safety concern symbol, as depicted in Figure 4 of this section, at 2/3 the font size of the base star, and

(ii) Include at the bottom of the overall vehicle score area only as the last line of that area, in no smaller than 8 point type, the related symbol, as depicted in Figure 4 of this section, as a superscript of the rest of the line, and the text “Safety Concern: Visit www.safercar.gov or call 1-888-327-4236 for more details.”

(11) No additional information may be provided in the safety rating label area. The specified information provided in a language other than English is not considered to be additional information.

(f) Smaller safety rating label for vehicles with no ratings.

(1) If NHTSA has not released a safety rating for any category for a vehicle, the manufacturer may use a smaller safety rating label that meets paragraphs (f)(2) through (f)(5) of this section. A sample label is depicted in Figure 2.

(2) The label must be at least 4 1/2 inches in width and 1 1/2 inches in height, and must be surrounded by a solid dark line that is a minimum of 3 points in width.

(3) Heading area. The text must read “Government 5-Star Safety Ratings” and be at least in 14-point boldface, capital letters that are light in color, and be centered. The background must be dark.

(4) General information. The general information area must be below the header area. The text must be dark and the background must be light. The text must state the following, in at least 12-point font and be left justified: “This vehicle has not been rated by the government for overall vehicle score, frontal crash, side crash, or rollover risk.”

(5) Footer area. The footer area must be placed at the bottom of the label; the text must be at least in 12-point boldface letters that are light in color, and centered. The background must be dark. The text must state the following, in the specified order, on separate lines:

(i) “Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)” and

(ii) “www.safercar.gov or 1-888-327-4236”.

(6) No additional information may be provided in the smaller safety rating label area. The specified information provided in a language other than English is not considered to be additional information.

(g) Labels for alterers.

(1) If, pursuant to 49 CFR 567.7, a person is required to affix a certification label to a vehicle, and the vehicle has a safety rating label with one or more safety ratings, the alterer must also place another label on that vehicle as specified in this paragraph.

(2) The additional label (which does not replace the one required by 49 CFR 567.7) must read: “This vehicle has been altered. The stated star ratings on the safety rating label may no longer be applicable.”

(3) The label must be placed adjacent to the Monroney label or as close to it as physically possible.

[76 FR 45466, July 29, 2011, as amended at 76 FR 74724, Dec. 1, 2011]