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Accident
Reconstruction Network > Research > Rollovers and SUV
Accident reconstruction research
SUV's,
Ford, Firestone, and Physics Versus Statistics
With charges
of blame being spread around, each side of the issue seem to use
statistical accident data to make a case. Statistics do have a place
and in the right place are legitimate analytical tools. Statistics,
however, unless the number of samples is extremely large, are lacking
in many ways. Even then, unless all data uses the same baseline
are subject to a very large number of potential probabilistic errors.
For example, age, sex, size of a driver, load in the vehicle, air
pressure, and condition of various vehicle components at a time
of a crash, may have a great deal more to do with results than tire
and vehicle design.
SUV's are not
just other passenger cars. Weight, higher center of gravity, and
a much stiffer suspension are but some elements which makes SUV's
a much different vehicle than your average passenger car. The "physics"
of SUV's are likely to have a great deal more to do with the cause
of crashes than just tire design, or other simplistic elements drawn
from statistical data.
There is a little,
or no question, that tires played a part in the case of Ford's SUV
crashes; there is even less doubt that the actual design and how
it effects the physics, which simply means stability of the SUV.
It is time that
when causes of crashes are investigated, presented to Congress,
or discussed by the media, the finger pointing stops, statistics
are put in their subservient place, and the relation between the
vehicle physics and crashes becomes the focus of assessing the problem.
When one examines the physics of a vehicle, integrating ALL components,
including tires, suspension, and general design, then the causes
of problems can be established and dealt with in an effective manner.
Dan Goor
XSCi
ARC Member, Colorado
Submitted
June 30, 2001 |