U.S.
proposes road tests to measure vehicle rollover
By John Crawley
WASHINGTON,
Oct 1 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators proposed long awaited road
test standards on Tuesday for measuring rollover risk in new
vehicles, a cornerstone of landmark congressional requirements
to improve auto safety after the Firestone tire debacle.
The proposal
by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will build
on its "five-star" rollover rating system based solely
on vehicle design specifications that was introduced last year
and criticized by the auto industry and consumer groups.
It could
be months before the new tests start and up to a year before
the results are available to consumers. The format for reporting
the data to the public has not been finalized and remains a
source of controversy.
In the new
tests, regulators plan to put as many as 100 makes and models
of cars and light trucks through two turning maneuvers at different
speeds to simulate rollover hazards.
A car or
truck involved in that type of single-vehicle crash will most
commonly leave the road first and "trip" on a ditch
or soft dirt. But the government will measure far less frequent
but severe "untripped" events that are initiated by
sharp maneuvers on an evenly paved surface.
Testing
will involve vehicles driven by computers up to highway speeds.
In one, the steering wheel will be turned sharply in one direction
as if a driver were trying to avoid something that suddenly
appeared in the road. The other test will rate a vehicle's response
to looping swerves. This might occur when a driver attempts
to correct steering.
Light trucks,
with a higher center of gravity, are disproportionately involved
in rollover accidents when compared with passenger cars. Government
crash data show that more than 9,800 people are killed annually
in an estimated 270,000 rollover crashes involving light trucks
-- which include popular selling sport utility vehicles, minivans
and pickups.
Until pressured
by Congress, neither the government nor manufacturers had developed
a comparative industry wide standard for rollover testing. Individual
auto makers conduct rollover tests in developing their own vehicles,
however.
While outspoken
against the government's rollover rating system based on design
specifications, the industry offered only a measured response
to NHTSA's plan for broader tests.
"We
don't know if any single or a couple of tests will do what the
government wants them to do," said Scott Schmidt, a spokesman
for the industry's chief lobbying group, the Alliance of Automobile
Manufacturers.
Regulators
are also proposing two formats for presenting the new test results
to consumers.
One would
combine the design standard and the road tests results in a
single rating for each model. The second alternative would involve
separate ratings for design criteria and road tests.
Safety and
consumer groups said the difference between ratings based on
design standards for certain vehicles can be narrow, while road
tests can provide a broader analysis of risk.
"I
think the consumer should know the both, but there ought to
be a conclusion at the end," said Joan Claybrook, president
of consumer group Public Citizen.
A number
of new auto safety standards, including the rollover tests,
were mandated by Congress in 2000 after deadly rollovers and
other crashes linked to Firestone tire failures. Most of those
tires were installed as original equipment on Ford Motor Co.'s
(NYSE:F - News) Ford Explorer SUV.
The tread
separations and blowouts led to separate recalls of millions
of Firestone tires. Firestone is a unit of Japan's Bridgestone
Corp. (Tokyo:5108.T - News).
Click
here for NHTSA's Report
