March 28, 2008
The National Highway Traffic Safety
Administrations (NHTSA) proposed performance standard for vehicle
roofs falls woefully short of satisfying a congressional mandate to
significantly improve the ability of vehicles to protect occupants in
rollover crashes, Public Citizen said in comments filed Thursday with
the agency.
NHTSAs proposed roof crush rule fails to require manufacturers to test both the driver and passenger sides of vehicles and does not require a dynamic test that mimics an actual rollover, which would include taking into account passenger ejection and containment, the group said.
Instead, NHTSAs rule relies on measuring the ability of the drivers side roof to resist 2.5 times the vehicles weight, which is an increase from the existing standard but does very little by itself to improve safety, according to Public Citizens comments.
Congress demanded that NHTSA do something to reduce the more than 10,500 deaths each year from rollover crashes, and what it got was a feeble proposal that seems more intent on appeasing industry than improving safety, said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook, who served as NHTSA administrator from 1977 to 1981.
In fact, NHTSA estimates that the proposal will save, at most, only 44 lives a year. We need a comprehensive, dynamic testing standard that looks not only at roof strength but also what happens to passengers during a rollover.
Congress instructed NHTSA in the 2005 highway bill to reduce rollover deaths by writing new performance standards that would improve vehicle stability, reduce passenger ejections and increase roof strength.
The legislation also clearly called for testing both sides of the vehicle roof.
Studies show that the initial impact of a rollover can substantially weaken the other side of the roof, which greatly increases the chance it will crumple and injure the occupant.
Public Citizens comments call for NHTSA to put more research into developing a test that focuses on protecting occupants during rollover crashes. The agencys proposal is so inadequate that Public Citizen recommends NHTSA go back to the drawing board and produce a completely new proposal.
