Safety

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"Aluminum F-150 is safer than steel versions."
Chris IsidoreCNN Money

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"From traditional pickups to emerging electric vehicles and everything in between, lighter vehicles on the road today confirm autos can be designed not just to be better for consumers and the environment, but safer than their heavier predecessors.”
Heidi BrockPresident & CEO, The Aluminum Association

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"Reducing the mass of the heavier vehicles also enhances societal safety… mass reduction of up to 20 percent is feasible on light trucks, [crossovers] and minivans.”
NHTSA, DOE and CARB2016 Technical Assessment Report

Aluminum industry testifies on proposed Safer Affordable Fuel-Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles Rulemaking.

Read what experts are saying.

Bigger IS Better…and Safer

Size, not weight, is the leading automotive safety determinant. High-strength, low-weight aluminum can be used to maintain or even increase the size and energy absorption capacity of a vehicle’s critical front and back-end crumple zones for improved safety, without increasing vehicle weight overall.

Lighter and Safer Thanks To Aluminum

As opportunities abound to safely reduce mass in large trucks and cars, Ford’s F-150 and Tesla’s Model S confirm reducing weight can increase safety, boost MPG, extend battery range, improve towing and cut emissions. Even under the strictest regulatory scenario, automakers have no plans to remove mass in vehicles under 3,000 lbs. (3% of the total market).

Five Star Safety Comes Standard

Every aluminum-bodied vehicle ever crash tested by NHTSA earned a perfect 5-star rating, including recent models of the acclaimed Ford F-150 (2015-2016 Regular Cab) and Tesla Model X (2017 Tesla Model X). Advanced aluminum alloys are trusted in safety sensitive components across top safety-rated cars and trucks.

Aluminum’s Safety Advantages

Aluminum can be used to maintain or even increase the size and energy absorption capacity of a vehicle’s critical front- and back-end crumple zones for added safety, without increasing overall weight.

Aluminum can absorb twice as much crash energy as steel.

Aluminum components can be designed to fold predictably during a crash, allowing the vehicle to absorb much of the crash energy before it gets to the passenger compartment.

All other factors equal, vehicles made lighter with aluminum require shorter stopping distances than heavier vehicles to help drivers avoid crashes altogether.