Sport Utility Vehicles Will Get Close Look: NHTSA LTV SAFETY PROJECT MOVES ON TO CRASH TESTING |
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NHTSA
February 18, 1998
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NHTSA 07-98
Wednesday, February 18, 1998
Contact: Mike Russell
Tel. No. (202) 366-9550
Continuing its comprehensive review of the safety of light trucks and vans (LTVs), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) today announced it will begin a series of crash tests to assess the compatibility of LTVs with passenger cars and hold an international summit to discuss LTV-passenger car safety. Additionally, the safety agency released a university study analyzing the effect of LTVs on safety in passenger cars. NHTSA will conduct a series of six crash tests beginning Feb. 20, 1998, at its Vehicle Research Test Center in East Liberty, Ohio. The first three vehicles to be tested will be a 1998 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck, a 1997 Ford Explorer, and a 1997 Dodge Caravan. A 1998 Honda Accord will serve as the struck vehicle in all six tests.
"Safety is President Clinton's highest transportation priority, and crash testing will give us real world safety information on these larger vehicles," said Ricardo Martinez, M.D., NHTSA administrator. "To help in this effort, auto manufacturers have agreed to participate in a summit on this issue. We all must keep our focus on the safety of families."
In the crash testing, engineers will stage typical collisions between sport utility vehicles, minivans, pickup trucks and passenger cars to examine so-called "incompatibilities" -- or mismatches in vehicle design -- that may increase the severity and consequences of crashes. There will be three frontal crashes and three side collisions. The latter tests simulate an intersection crash where the striking vehicle is traveling at 30 mph and the struck vehicle at 15 mph.
While the number of vehicles in the U.S. fleet grows at an annual rate of 2 percent, LTV sales are growing at nearly 8 percent annually. The popular vehicles now represent 34 percent of the total fleet on the nation's highways. As a class, they are considered more "aggressive" than passenger cars in crashes. Since 1992, there have been more fatalities in car-LTV collisions than in car-to-car crashes. In car-LTV crashes, research shows that 80 percent of the fatalities are occupants of the car.
Dr. Martinez will convene the LTV Summit to present NHTSA's preliminary crash tests results and discuss the range of issues surrounding LTV-passenger car safety. The summit will take place in Detroit in conjunction with the International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles in Windsor, Ontario, Canada May 31-June 4, 1998.
Dr. Martinez said that NHTSA's goal is to get all parties involved with these vehicles together to share collective knowledge, to define problems and work as partners toward solutions.
In a related action, the safety agency also today released a NHTSA-sponsored LTV study from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). In determining the crashworthiness and aggressivity of passenger cars and LTVs, the study establishes a numerical risk of injury or death in a variety of crash scenarios. The UMTRI study shows, for example, that when an SUV strikes a passenger car in a frontal crash, there are five fatalities in the car for each fatality in the sport utility vehicle; and when an SUV strikes a passenger car on the side, there are 30 fatalities in the car for each fatality in the SUV.
NHTSA engineers also will present a new technical paper, The Aggressivity Of Light Trucks And Vans In Traffic Crashes, at the 1998 Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International Annual Congress Feb. 23-26, 1998, in Detroit. The paper concludes that although LTVs account for one-third of registered vehicles, collisions between cars and LTVs account for over half of all fatalities in multi-vehicle crashes. Also, nearly 60 percent of all fatalities in side impact crashes occur when the striking vehicle is an LTV. The report also considers vehicle design, citing structural stiffness and higher ride height as factors in vehicle aggressivity.
The crash testing and technical examinations are key parts of NHTSA's comprehensive look at LTV safety issues. The agency is considering proposing new rollover warning labels for SUVs. It will also continue research on a new dynamic rollover test for LTVs. The agency also will study driver behavior and education.
NHTSA researchers also are reviewing ways to reduce the incidence of driver and passenger ejection in crashes through changes such as stronger window glazing, new door locks, and roof crush bars.
Copies of the UMTRI report are available from the NHTSA Office of Public and Consumer Affairs at (202) 366-9550. The SAE technical paper will be available from SAE and NHTSA after its presentation in Detroit.