NHTSA Removes Obsolete Side-Impact Provisions From Three Vehicle Safety Standards

WASHINGTON — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration published a final rule June 3, 2026 that strikes obsolete regulatory text from Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 214 on side-impact protection.

The rule affects every motor vehicle manufacturer selling new vehicles in the United States, as well as importers and certification entities required to demonstrate compliance with FMVSS No. 214, FMVSS No. 305a for electric-powered vehicles and FMVSS No.

307 for hydrogen vehicles. Per the Federal Register notice, the agency received two comments supporting the changes; one commenter also suggested further deletions of obsolete text that NHTSA adopted.

The operational change is narrow but concrete. The final rule deletes outdated side-impact requirements from FMVSS No. 214 that applied to vehicle designs no longer manufactured. It simultaneously removes all references to those deleted sections from FMVSS No.

305a, which governs electric powertrain integrity after crashes, and from FMVSS No. 307, which addresses hydrogen fuel-system integrity. The prior version of the three standards therefore contained regulatory language that manufacturers had to parse and test against even though the underlying requirements had become irrelevant.

The revisions take effect July 6, 2026.

Downstream, manufacturers can simplify compliance documentation and testing protocols immediately after the effective date. Certification labels and owner manuals will no longer need to address the removed provisions. The rule also closes the regulatory loop on a notice of proposed rulemaking issued May 30, 2025.

No new comment period opens; the agency has completed its response to the two comments received. Because the changes reduce rather than increase regulatory burden, they are not expected to trigger additional congressional review under the Congressional Review Act.

This is the latest housekeeping action by NHTSA to align its standards with evolved vehicle technology. The original FMVSS No. 214 side-impact requirements date to an era of vehicle construction that predates both widespread electric powertrains and current side-impact test dummies and procedures.

The final rule signed by President Donald Trump contains no new performance requirements and does not alter existing crashworthiness obligations that remain in force.