| ABC |
America Buckles Up Children Mobilization (National Safety Council) |
| ABS |
Antilock brake system |
| ADL |
Automatic door locks |
| ADT |
Average daily traffic |
| ALR |
Administrative licensing revocation |
| BAC |
Blood alcohol concentration |
| CHMSL |
Center high mounted stop lamp |
| DWI |
Driving while intoxicated |
| ECE |
Economic Commission for Europe |
| EMS |
Emergency medical services |
| EMT |
Emergency Medical Technician |
| EPA |
Environmental Protection Agency |
| ESCS |
Electronic stability control system |
| EWR |
Early Warning Reporting system for notifying NHTSA about possible vehicle defects |
| FARS |
Fatality Analysis Reporting System (a census of fatal crashes in the United States since 1975 |
| FHWA |
Federal Highway Administration |
| FMCSA |
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration |
| FMCSR |
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation |
| FMVSS |
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard |
| GES |
General Estimates System, a part of NASS |
| GVWR |
Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (specified by the manufacturer, equals the vehicle's curb weight plus maximum recommended loading) |
| HIC |
Head Injury Criterion |
| HID |
High intensity discharge headlamp |
| IIHS |
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety |
| IPT |
Integrated Project Team (at NHTSA) |
| LATCH |
Lower anchors and tethers for children |
| LBS |
Linked braking systems (for motorcycles) |
| LTV |
Light trucks and vans (includes pickup trucks, SUVs, minivans and full-sized vans) |
| MDB |
Moving deformable barrier |
| MIL |
Malfunction indicator lamp for heavy-truck ABS |
| MY |
Model year |
| MVOSS |
Motor Vehicle Occupant Safety Survey |
| NAFTA |
North American Free Trade Agreement |
| NASS |
National Automotive Sampling System (a probability sample of police-reported crashes in the United States since 1979, investigated in detail) |
| NCAP |
New Car Assessment Program (consumer information supplied by NHTSA on the safety of new cars and LTVs, based on test results, since 1979) |
| NHS |
National Highway System |
| NHTSA |
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration |
| NMSL |
National Maximum Speed Limit (55 mph, 1974-87) |
| NOPUS |
National Occupant Protection Use Survey (statistics for the United States, since 1994, from a national observational survey based on a probability sample) |
| NPRM |
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking |
| PCI |
Passenger compartment intrusion |
| pdf |
Portable document format |
| SAE |
Society of Automotive Engineers |
| SSF |
Static stability factor |
| STOP-DWI |
Special Traffic Options Program for Driving While Intoxicated |
| SUV |
Sport utility vehicle |
| Thor-Lx/HIIIr |
Lower extremity (Lx) retrofit (r) for the version of the Hybrid III (HIII) anthropomorphic dummy that is named THOR, the modification enhances the dummy's capability of measuring leg injuries |
| TREAD |
Transportation Recall, Enhancement, Accountability and Documentation Act of 2000 |
| TTI(d) |
Thoracic Trauma Index for the dummy in a side-impact test |
| TTMA |
Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association |
| VMT |
Vehicle Miles of Travel |