According to a series of news reports, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has indicated that the agency is officially abandoning plans to dispose of a 35-year-old regulation that was first introduced to prevent injuries associated with vehicle hoods and windshields during serious auto accidents.

According to the official reports, the federal agency wanted to abolish the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 219 that deals with windshield zone intrusion. The standard requires automakers to manufacture vehicles with hoods that would not enter the area in front of the vehicle’s windshield in the event of a full frontal collision. The hoods were to be tested for the standard No. 219 in crash tests at 30 miles per hour, the federal agents reported. This standard was developed to increase the risks associated with accidents that put drivers in contact with vehicle components. Current studies, however, show that this standard only helps to reduce a small number of injuries.

Federal agents also believe that recent requirements concerned with the design of less rigid and lighter materials could be affected by the federal standard introduced in 1976. According to an official announcement, due to the introduction of U.S. fuel economy requirements and the introduction of a broad global technical regulation that hopes to make vehicles less hazardous to pedestrians, the maintenance of the standard No. 219 could be ineffective.

Two other regulations regarding hood latches and occupant crash protection could be used so the regulation No. 219 can be scraped.

Now, the Center for Auto Safety and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety have voiced their opinion regarding the matter. According to both agencies, the regulation regarding windshield zone intrusion should be kept, which was a decision backed up by the Alliance for Automobile Manufacturers.

Hopefully, lawmakers and automakers will work together to come up with solutions that will make vehicles safer than ever.

For more on this requirement and how the federal agents at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are leading with the decision, click here.