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Report shows automakers misled NHTSA and public
March 30, 2005
According to a new report on auto industry data, automakers have misled government regulators and the public for years by claiming roof strength and injuries in rollover crashes are unrelated.
Auto manufacturers have been saying for years that in rollover crashes people sustain head and neck injuries when they dive into the roofs of their vehicles, not when the roofs crush into their heads. This argument was used in resistance to government requirements for stronger roofs on vehicles and to protect themselves from liability in lawsuits brought by families of rollover crash victims, but a report, "Roof Crush as a Source of Injury in Rollover Crashes," analyzes Ford Motor Co.'s own tests to show roof crush does occur prior to injurious neck loads during rollovers.
The report shows strengthening roofs would in fact prevent catastrophic head and spinal cord injuries and deaths. Written by Martha Bidez, Ph.D., of Bidez Associates and a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the report comes at an especially important time because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is getting ready to propose a new roof strength standard.
Safety experts are not expecting, however, that the NHTSA roof strength proposal will significantly improve safety. Current standards date back from 1971, and they have yet to be updated despite repeated promises made by agency officials. New industry documents recently revealed also show that while Ford has continued to denied a link between roof strength and rollover crash injuries, its subsidiary, Volvo, has recognized that strengthening roofs and installing side head air bags and pre-tensioned belts in rollover crashes can reduce fatalities.
Every year, nearly 10,000 people die in rollover crashes and 6,000 to 7,000 deaths a year are related to roof collapse and roof crush. The President of Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, Joan Claybrook thinks the only way to save lives in rollover crashes in to strengthen roofs and install other "basic safety devices," calling auto manufacturers' claims that head injures are the result of people diving into the roofs of their cars "ludicrous".
The report by Bidez is being submitted to the docket at NHTSA. Despite rollover crashes representing just three percent of vehicle crashes, they are responsible for one-third of all crash fatalities. Evidence continues to support arguments that rollovers are so dangerous because of poor vehicle design.If you have any questions about your legal rights regarding an injury caused by an auto defect, please contact us.
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