Detroit, Michigan -- "Good morning and thank you for joining us today."

"It is one of everyone's worst nightmares--the phone call saying that your loved one has been in a car crash."

"When you show up at the crash scene and see the car--its windshield cracked, front end mangled, and airbags deflated--you are relieved that your loved one is out of harm's way, and that so many of the safety features that protected him or her came standard on the car."

"You also realize what that five-star safety rating the dealer kept talking about really means: the difference between a minor injury and a far more serious one."

"Today, the five-star rating system known as the New Car Assessment or NCAP is a successful program that provides consumers with realistic and reliable information on the safety performance of some of the most popular cars sold in America. "

"For nearly 30 years now, the program has been a catalyst for encouraging major safety improvements to new car design. Without question and without government mandate, car makers realize that safety helps sell cars. And today, more and more vehicles are achieving the highest star ratings."

"Yet, while consumer demand has driven more manufacturers to design passenger vehicles that are safer than ever before, we are still losing over 40,000 people on our roads each year."

"Safety is not a static concept. And our approach to improving it can not be either. That is why today we are raising the bar on auto safety by proposing across-the-board upgrades to our successful five-star safety rating program."

"Our proposals, outlined in the New Car Assessment Program Suggested Approaches for Future Program Enhancements Report, are common sense in their approach and comprehensive in their scope. "

"They lay out short and long-term strategies to not only improve overall vehicle safety, but to provide better, more useful information to help consumers make more informed decisions when they buy cars, trucks or SUVs. "

"Our proposals call for strengthening our current frontal, side, and roll over tests. This includes beefing up our frontal tests to not just include head and chests injuries, but for the first time, rating vehicles for the high incidence of upper leg injuries. "

"We are also proposing to add a new side impact test. Everyone knows the old adage 'wrapping the car around the telephone pole.' It is an adage because it happens. So, we want to re-create this kind of crash to show how side airbags can protect the driver's head during this type of crash."

"Improving the quality and timeliness of the information we provide consumers is a top priority. After all, you can not use the information if you can not understand it or it is not readily available."

"For example, consumers indicate they are concerned about rear impact crashes. So, we are proposing to offer basic, but useful information on these types of crashes ranging from suggestions on safe driving practices to the proper adjustment of head restraints."

"Additionally, because several public research reports and consumer surveys indicated that a summary safety rating would be very helpful, we are also proposing to consolidate the frontal and side crash test results into a single rating. Such streamlined and simplified information will be very helpful when consumers are choosing their car."

"But, perhaps the most important influence on improving road safety in the future rests with new crash avoidance technology. Such advancements not only lessen the severity of a crash, but help prevent it in the first place."

"We estimate that vehicle technologies have already saved about 330,000 lives since the 1960s. That is why as part of an enhanced safety rating program, the Department is also proposing to promote crash avoidance technologies like electronic stability control, as well as lane departure and rear collision avoidance that have the potential to save thousands more lives in the future."

"We will investigate how we rate these technologies to encourage manufacturers to incorporate them in car design and to provide consumers with helpful information on their safety potential."

"Listening and learning from those in the transportation community helps shape better policies and programs."

"So, as we release our proposals today, we are announcing that we will hold a public meeting on March 7th in Washington, D.C., to provide members of the public with an opportunity to provide input and ask questions."

"In the last 30 years we have made tremendous strides in saving lives and preventing injuries on America's roads. During that short amount of time, safety has gone from being an available option to standard equipment on our cars and trucks. But, now is the time for us to join together to raise that safety bar even higher."

"We can never become complacent about saving the lives of our loved ones, and we must be willing to evolve along with the times and technology. And that is exactly what the recommendations that we release today seek to do."

"Thank you for being here today. And now, I would be happy to take some questions from the media."

Click to view the - The New Car Assessment Program Suggested Approaches for Future Program Enhancements or go to http://www.safercar.gov/newcarassessmentenhancements-2007.pdf.