The study released today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety adds to the mountain of evidence that the federal government is not doing enough to protect the public from deadly rollover crashes. The Institute’s study exposes the junk science that the auto industry has been circulating for years.
The automakers have tried to pass off the laughable claim that roof strength has zero relationship to the risks vehicle occupants face in rollover crashes. This study is the last nail in the coffin for that bogus argument.
Additionally, the Institute’s study – which closely follows the methodology used by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in its performance tests – underscores what safety experts and consumer advocates have been saying for years: NHTSA’s proposed revision to the 40-year-old roof strength standard is insufficient. Congress instructed NHTSA in the 2005 highways bill to “upgrade” the decades-old standard. NHTSA has chosen to fiddle around at the margins instead of overhauling its outdated safety standard to reflect the best protection possible for the public. The Institute’s study echoes our urgent warnings to the agency that its proposed increase of the roof strength standard from 1.5 to 2.5 times gross vehicle weight will not meet the public’s need for safety.
Rollover crashes kill more than 10,000 people every year. It is long past time for NHTSA to listen to the evidence and give the public the upgraded safety standard it so desperately needs.
Justin Hyde writes about the study in the Detroit Free Press.
Let us get this moving. I hope you have the people to put the citizen vox in front and start eliminating the mean ones that are there.How can reporters tear us up like they do wih articles of choice to tears us.
I don’t thnik they-we realize lize how rotten they are/have been . We need good hesalth but it must start with our mind. Having people that are rotten people should not be leading us. ‘We;’ the people are the ones that started the USA.
Public Citizen has a good idea here, will it get spelled out and put in practice?
One area of highway/road safety by cars that will never be considered is the prevalence of automobile TV ads that demonstrate UNSAFE, DANGEROUS DRIVING PRACTICES to sell their cars.
From wheelies on city streets to speeding on curving highways, the ads incite and excite drivers to rev their cars. Many years ago, ads about smoking and drinking liquor were banned fro TV because of the enticements to the people. Reckless driving is a major cause of accidents and deaths. BUT, these automobile companies are major contributors to THE TV CORPORATIONS and to our government representatives. Until there are laws requiring PUBLIC FINANCING OF FEDERAL AND LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES, the great USA cannot call itself a DEMOCRACY.
[...] We’ve written about the roof crush rule before (here and here). [...]