Why Join

Thank you for your interest in membership in the Automotive Safety Council.

As a non-profit industry association, the Automotive Safety Council is dedicated to providing value to our member companies. Industry groups and associations play an important part in our free enterprise system of economics. They provide the interface and transfer of information that our governing bodies need to make decisions, laws, regulations and standards. This is a key factor in a highly regulated industry such as ours. Not only does this interface help the government, it also benefits our industry. Below are four key points I think are essential to any industry organization.

First, the organization should facilitate obtaining consensus on key issues for the purpose of taking actions. These actions can include communicating positions to the government and/or legislative branches, the public or other organizations to educate, to inform, to prevent or stop a practice that is detrimental or unwise, or to promote a given position. If you consider this for a moment, this is the most economical and effective approach for a good industry group. Think of the effort and expense for an individual company to communicate over such a broad spectrum. Consider the effectiveness of a single company undertaking compared to the results of an industry-wide effort. Key to this is that ASC’s member companies represent more than 90% of the automotive safety supplier industry.

We provide an open interface on non-competitive issues through our annual meeting, committee work, electronic communication and interaction with other industry organizations. Our industry positions and programs are widely communicated through our interactive website (www.automotivesafetycouncil.org), a timely president’s letter containing the latest NHTSA news, frequent press releases and meetings with regulatory agencies. This provides our membership with an efficient means of establishing positions and speaking out effectively.

Second, the organization must be a well established, non-profit entity in order to concentrate on industry needs and issues and not on internal themes and conflicts.

The Automotive Safety Council was established in 1961 at the request of the National Safety Council to oversee the quality and business practices of the new automotive seat belt industry, today we encompass the full spectrum of Active , Passive , Interior and Child safety components and still have many of the original charter members. The Council operates under the guidance of a board of directors and an executive committee with a president and administrator to carry out the day to day business of the organization.

Third, the organization must be active, well recognized and respected, with the ability to effectively interface with the government and the rest of the automotive industry, including the automobile manufacturers.

The Automotive Safety Council has thirteen active committees including eleven focusing on technical issues and two others to handle public education and government relations. The work of these committees benefits all members and the entire industry. We work with many government agencies on standards, technology and safety issues. We provide comments and petitions to the NHTSA and information to the Congress as needed in considering legislation. We are not a lobbying organization – we are an educator and information provider. We maintain a presence in Washington, DC to work closely with other industry associations, such as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the