New PARTS Program Funds $34 Million in Traffic Safety Research While Shielding Data from Public View

The Vehicle Safety Research Act of 2025 is setting up a new, formal structure for traffic safety analysis within the Department of Transportation (DOT). It creates the Partnership for Analytics Research in Traffic Safety, or PARTS program, and dedicates $34 million in funding through Fiscal Year 2030 to collect and analyze data that will eventually inform new safety rules for the cars we drive.

The New Engine for Safety Research

Essentially, this bill formalizes and funds ongoing research efforts under a new banner. The DOT Secretary has 180 days to draft the charter—the operating manual—for PARTS, which must be run by an experienced “external organization,” like a university or non-profit research center. This organization will be the one collecting, analyzing, and sharing aggregated traffic safety information. The goal here is clear: get better data, make better safety rules, and hopefully, reduce accidents and fatalities on the road. For the average commuter, this is the research that leads to things like mandatory backup cameras or better crash-test standards.

Confidentiality is the Core Feature

If you want to know why this program is getting formalized, look no further than data privacy. The bill’s most significant feature is the robust data protection it offers to participants—think auto manufacturers or tech companies—who volunteer their data. The charter must ensure that participants retain full ownership and control of the data they submit. The external research group can only use the data for two things: developing safety tech and creating new safety improvements. Crucially, the external organization cannot share any participant’s data or analysis with another participant without explicit agreement.

This strong confidentiality is designed to encourage industry buy-in. If a car company is worried its proprietary crash data or early-stage safety tech details will become public or land in a competitor’s hands, they won’t participate. By guaranteeing data security, the PARTS program aims to unlock more valuable, real-world data that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) can use to regulate the next generation of vehicles.

Cutting the Red Tape, Raising the Walls

This bill streamlines the process by cutting out some administrative hurdles. It explicitly states that the Paperwork Reduction Act—which usually requires federal agencies to get approval before collecting information and is meant to reduce regulatory burden—does not apply to data collected under PARTS. The Secretary also doesn't need to go through the lengthy process of writing formal regulations to get the program running. This means quicker implementation, which is a definite plus for getting safety research moving.

However, this speed comes with a trade-off in transparency. Any reports or data voluntarily submitted for the PARTS research are specifically protected from public release under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) exemption (5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(3)(B)). While this protects proprietary information, it also means that the public, consumer advocates, and oversight bodies won't be able to review the underlying data that informs future safety rules. This lack of transparency could make it harder for the public to scrutinize the research methodologies or hold the DOT accountable for the regulations they eventually propose. For people who rely on public information to ensure regulators are doing their job, this is a significant wall being built around key safety data.