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Safety Officials Want Stronger Auto Roofs

by Jayne O'Donnell, USA Today

Federal auto safety officials proposed a rule Friday that should lead to stronger car and truck roofs that reduce the risk of injury and death in rollover crashes.

The rule would increase the weight a roof must be able to withstand and include, for the first time, the largest trucks.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that fewer than 50 lives will be saved a year once the standard takes effect. It is estimated to cost the industry about $90 million. It could prevent 500 to 800 injuries a year.

Safety advocates don't believe the proposed change in how much weight a roof must be able to withstand - 2.5 times the vehicle's weight compared with the 32-year-old current standard's 1.5 times - is enough.

"It may not be a very hard test to pass," says Don Mays, Consumer Union's senior director for product safety. "It may not be enough protection in event of a rollover."

The proposal would force vehicles weighing up to 10,000 pounds, including General Motors' Hummer and Ford Motor's Lincoln Navigator, to meet the rule. Only SUVs and pickups up to 6,000 pounds were included when the current standard was amended in 1994 to cover trucks. Automakers say they have been testing their entire lineups to the current standard.

NHTSA will take comments on the rule before finalizing it. It would likely take effect about two years later.

Automakers and regulators say consumer advocates are focusing on the wrong problem.

Lou Carlin, GM's director of safety integration, says the automaker's crash testing shows the problem is related more to seat belts than roof crush. He says rollovers cause occupants, especially those who are unbelted, to dive into the roof: "Currently, what we see (is) the head contacting the roof, not the roof contacting the head."

To address this, NHTSA will also seek comment on ways to improve existing belts so they don't allow enough slack to send people into roofs. About 75% of 2005 models have "pretensioning" seat belts that remove slack when the pressure on a person's chest hits a certain level in a frontal crash. Several automakers are working on ways to use sensors that trigger pretensioners if rollover is detected.

About two-thirds of the 10,000 people who die in rollover crashes a year are not wearing safety belts. Many are completely or partially ejected from vehicles. "I believe that some in the advocacy community are overlooking that the most obvious way to reduce injuries is to buckle up," says NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson. "The vehicle can only do so much. At a certain point, people have to do their part."

If you believe that you have been injured in a rollover or roof collapse related accident you should click here for a free case assessment..