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Regulator Reaffirms Focus on S.U.V.'s

The New York Times -

01/14/03 - The Bush administration's chief traffic safety regulator reaffirmed today that regulating sport utility vehicles would be a top priority.

Dr. Jeffrey Runge, the top administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, has said that studying the compatibility of S.U.V.'s and pickups with passenger cars in collisions is a chief focus of his agency, as well as coming up with an improved test to determine how prone vehicles are to rollovers.

Fatalities in single vehicle rollovers increased 22.3 percent from 2000 to 2001 and now account for 8,400 fatalities, Dr. Runge said in a speech today at an auto industry conference here. The largest increase comes from pickup trucks, a segment of the market that is growing in popularity. The fatality rate because of rollovers in S.U.V.'s is three times higher than for passenger cars, he said.

"The increasing problem with vehicle rollovers has moved this issue to the small group of top agency priorities," he said.

S.U.V.'s and pickups are more prone to rollover because they have higher centers of gravity.

Asked about the safety of S.U.V.'s, he said: "I would not put an inexperienced driver in a vehicle that is rollover prone. Having said that, not all S.U.V.'s are created equal."

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