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Automakers urged to address car-SUV crashes
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A top federal safety official Wednesday urged automotive engineers to speed advanced technologies to market to reduce fatalities and injuries resulting from crashes between cars and SUVs.
In a keynote speech at the Society of Automotive Engineers 2005 World Congress, Dr. Joseph Kanianthra, associate administrator of vehicle research at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said technologies that can help drivers avoid crashes or turn potentially severe crashes into fender-benders offered the greatest promise for reducing highway deaths and injuries.
Several such technologies are on display this week at the SAE World Congress, such as lane departure warning systems and electronic maps that tell drivers how many vehicles are entering an oncoming intersection. In the future, advanced sensors will be able to detect when an accident is likely to occur, and apply brakes and take other steps to avoid a collision.
Such sensors are already being used by advanced cruise control systems that maintain set distances between vehicles traveling at high speeds.
The need to better protect car passengers in crashes with larger, stiffer and heavier light trucks has become an increasing focus for auto safety experts as the number of SUVs and light trucks in the United States has soared.
Last year, 54 percent of new vehicles sold were SUVs, pickups or minivans. Because they ride higher and feature frames that also ride higher than most cars, many light trucks are capable of inflicting major damage to a smaller car or vehicle during a collision.
NHTSA research shows that car occupants are 29 times more likely to die in an SUV-car crash than an SUV occupant. The risk to a car occupant soars depending on whether it is struck by another car or a light truck.
For example, in 2001, there were 1,163 deaths when cars were struck in the side by other cars. There were 2,008 deaths when cars were struck by light trucks, NHTSA's latest research shows.
In car-car crashes, the person in the struck car was eight times more likely to die than in the striking vehicle. In light truck-car crashes, that figure shot up to 29 times more likely.
Kanianthra said new safety equipment and engineering changes could be introduced sooner if government and industry officials cooperated more and there were market-driven initiatives, such as consumer information programs.
"In my own personal opinion, we are a bit slow on the issue, and we must move ahead if we are going to commit to safety," Kanianthra said.
Beyond active electronic safety systems, the possibilities for reducing injuries in SUV-car crashes include changes to vehicle "stiffness," or how much a body crumples during a crash, and adjusting "geometry," or how well different vehicles match up during a crash.
NHTSA has been researching a new crash test to gauge car-truck compatibility, according to agency documents. The test could be used as the basis for another consumer information program, like NHTSA's star ratings for frontal and side-impact crashes and resistance to rollover.
Dr. Jeffrey Runge, the head of NHTSA, has made the compatibility of cars and trucks involved in collisions one of the agency's four top priorities.
In June 2003, NHTSA released a plan that called for several studies:
• Research into ways vehicle frames could be redesigned.
• Ways to enhance protection for occupants involved in side-impact crashes.
• Reduce glare from headlights of light trucks.
• Change the federal fuel economy regulations that could reduce the disparity of weight between different types of vehicles on the road.
Addressing engineers who work on car-truck "compatibility" Wednesday at Cobo Center, Kanianthra said moves that would reduce speed at which collisions occur would save more lives than attempts to manage the energy of high-speed accidents.
Changes to the front and side structures that match up in car-truck collisions are at the heart of a voluntary agreement signed by most automakers in 2003.
Head-level airbags will be available on half of all new car and truck models by the 2008 model year, and will be universal by 2010. That will add between $200 and $500 to the cost of building a vehicle, according to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the industry's main lobbying group in Washington.
You can reach Jeff Plungis at (202) 906-8204 or jplungis@detnews.com.
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The Detroit News.
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