Pick-Up Trucks May Not Get Stronger Roofs Due To Industry Pressure
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering the impact that strengthening roofs of pick-up trucks and all passenger vehicles will have on reducing the number of deaths in rollover accidents. Rollovers cause about 10,000 deaths each year on the nation’s highways, which is about one-quarter of all fatalities. About 600 deaths and 800 serious injuries have been directly linked to “roof crush” when the vehicle’s roof collapse into the cabin after striking the ground one or several times.
Auto manufacturers are quietly trying to pressure the NHTSA to soften its proposal. Currently, the administration is considering a proposal that would increase roof strength by 50% or 2.5 times the weight of the vehicle. The mandate would also include guarantees of sufficient headroom.
But the regulations are too stringent, and will lead to other problems including heavier vehicles, more wind resistance, and therefore lower gas mileage. “Our bottom line is ensuring that any changes or any rule that comes out has sound science behind it,” said Charles Territo, a spokesman for the industry trade group, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
However, traditionally this has not been the case. The 30-year old standards in place today were based on science that would get the automakers the best results. Until recently, the NHTSA had accepted these tests as true indications of roof strength. But auto experts outside of the industry have recently shown that at the very least these tests do not sufficiently mimic real-world situations, and at worst are simply done for show.
Another argument of the industry, and one again used to fight roof strength regulation, is that seatbelt use is a major contributing factor. Rollover accidents produce, according to the manufacturers, “diving-type” head and neck injuries where the passenger impacts the roof when the vehicle rolls over. Again, this had been accepted as fact by the NHTSA, and again proven to be untrue by researchers. Most serious and fatal injuries are a result of the roof collapsing onto the passengers, not the passengers hitting the roof.
There have been great strides to help SUV owners prevent rollover accidents, but little has been done for pick-up truck owners, whose vehicles have almost the same rollover danger. Should the automakers’ lobby succeed in watering down or stopping this legislation, pick-up truck owners once again will be the biggest losers