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October 31, 2006

ROOF-CRUSH RULE FIGHT CONTINUES; COMPANIES SEEK WEAKENING

Automakers want the U.S. government to “substantially change a proposal to make vehicle roofs stronger to reduce deaths and injuries in rollover crashes,” according to a Reuters report based on industry correspondence and documents. It says that “more robust opposition to the government's update of the 30-year-old standard has crystallized over several months…”

“Rollover crashes account for roughly 10,000 fatalities annually or a quarter of all U.S. traffic deaths, federal safety figures show. About 600 deaths and 800 injuries are caused by head contact with a collapsed roof in a rollover. NHTSA proposed increasing roof strength standards more than 50 percent to 2-1/2 times vehicle weight. Regulators also want the standard to maintain sufficient headroom for an average sized adult male,” Reuters noted.

The auto industry is “pushing for roof strength test criteria that could be more forgiving than the government's plan. Companies also want a more predictable device for determining safe head room, especially for sport utilities,” but leading consumer and safety organizations assert the automakers are out to gut what advocates believe is an already weak NHTSA initiative,” Reuters said. (For earlier stories on the roof-crush rulemaking issue, search this MVHAP site for “roof crush” or “FMVSS 216.”)

Posted by MVHAP at October 31, 2006 05:09 AM