The U.S. Department of Transportation has joined with 18 automakers to explore new ways to further improve automotive safety. The industry-wide commitment comes after more than 100 million vehicles have faced some sort of recall over the past two years, shattering previous records. The cooperative effort between government and private sector will be focused on preventing safety defects before they occur.
Among the principles agreed to by the participating manufacturers was the possibility of sharing traffic and safety data as well as some research and development. The agreement is modeled after the Federal Aviation Administration’s Safety Management System. That system allows airlines to share data anonymously that helps to improve safety and avoid crashes.