|
|
Today is the Deadline for SUV Crash Standard Compliance
Today marks a significant landmark in automotive safety - it's the date the auto industry is required to make sports utility vehicles less deadly during front impact and side impact crashes with passenger cars.
The standards were designed to make the impact of a crash involving a passenger car and an SUV, less damaging to the occupants of the passenger car. These occupants are at a higher risk of serious injuries or fatalities in the event of a frontal or side impact crash with an SUV. That's because the higher frame of the SUV or pickup truck does not match with the comparatively smaller frame of a passenger car. In such cases, there is severe damage done to the passenger car, which bears the brunt of the impact.
Full frontal crashes involving an SUV or a pickup truck and a passenger car, can leave the occupants of the latter with catastrophic injuries. In the event of side impact crashes where there is lesser metal protecting the occupants of the passenger car from serious injuries, the devastation and damage is even greater.
According to the New York Times, earlier this year, the automakers told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that their vehicles would comply with the new safety standards for SUVs by September 1st.
However, these safety features have not come via regulation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The standards have been developed and adopted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the automakers. The side stepping of the NHTSA, apparently with the agency's nod, has led to criticism from those who say that there will likely be low enforcement of these standards, because the NHTSA may not be involved in their oversight.
Besides, they question the good sense in bypassing the government agency which is responsible for safety standards, and collaborating with the Insurance Institute which is funded by insurance companies. Supporters of the agreement between the automakers and the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, insist that this provides a shorter route towards making the SUVs much safer during an accident with a smaller passenger car. If the regulations had been set by the NHTSA, it would have taken far too long for the agency's slow regulatory processes to move ahead, and bring the new safety standards into enactment.
Consumer advocacy groups are criticizing the agreement. According to them, the standards have been developed during private meetings between the SUV manufacturers and the Insurance Institute, and therefore, may not be as reliable as is necessary. Besides, they worry about a lack of oversight, without which these safety standards would be of no use at all.
The agreement between the automakers and the insurance institute has two components.
* Cars will have to be better designed, so they can protect occupants' heads during side impact accidents.
* The fronts of SUVs and trucks would have to be reengineered to make them less likely to override the front of passenger cars, as they currently do, with serious consequences.
About the Author The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.
|
 |
Please Rate: |
|
Rating: |
 Processing ... |
(Average: Not rated) |
| Views: | 39 | |
|
| More Articles from Regulatory Compliance | | |
| Top Articles in Regulatory Compliance | | |
|
