The department of transportation writes the standards for cars produced in the United States. The government requires many passive safety features, which help drivers and passengers stay alive and uninjured in a crash. To determine which safety standards are most valuable and functional, the government crash tests new vehicles. The U.S. Department of Transportation tests cars by running them head-on into a flat wall at 30 mph, the force spread evenly across the front, to evaluate performance in serious frontal crashes. Dummies are seated in the driver's and front passenger seat. The crash is evaluated by the damage done to the dummies. These crash tests are responsible for many of the safety standards applied to cars in the past and to date. Safety belts are the most important safety device ever developed for the automobile. First installed in the 1950s, they have been mandatory equipment since 1967. "Standard No.208 -- Occupant Crash Protection" requires a fully functional passive safety system (federal motor vehicle safety standards and regulation). Starting in model year 1998, all new passenger cars sold in the US must have dual airbags (driver and passenger side). The US Department of Transportation requires that the doors and passenger compartments of automobiles made after 1996 meet minimal side impact standards. In side-impact tests, a stationary vehicle with dummies in the driver and front passenger seat is rammed by a 950 kg (2090 lb) moving trolley with a crushable aluminum face, going 50 km/h (30 mph), directly centered on the driver's seating position. This test mimics an a-typical intersection impact. Side impact air bags have not become a safety standard however they prove effective in all side impact safety testing. The government's requirements are minimal but they have proven effective in making the roads a safer place. The government is forced to keep up with technology so they are continually upgradin...