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Automakers Lobby to Weaken Roof Strength Proposal

By Joe Benton
ConsumerAffairs.com

October 23, 2006

Rollovers • Cars that Pass National Rollover Standard May Still be Deadly • Feds Delay New Roof-Crush Rule til October • Report: NHTSA Seeks More Time for Roof-Crush Rule • Senators Seek Delay in New Roof Strength Safety Rules • Senators Question Roof Strength Safety Rules • Nader Protests Feds' Roof Crush Plan • Treacherous Treads Still Taking Lives • Ford Class Action Settlement Leaves Consumers in the Dust • Feds' Roof Crush Rule Inadequate, Critics Charge • New Study: Stronger SUV Roofs Save Lives • Ford Loses $82 Million Rollover Verdict Appeal • Feds Delay Roof Strength Rule Again • Ford Settles Explorer Rollover Lawsuits • Safety Crusaders Seek Action on Roof Crush Injuries • Roof Crush Summit Highlights Safety Shortcomings • Feds Ignore Roof Crush Conference • Feds Delay New Roof Strength Rule • GM to Offer Rollover Airbags, Ford to Strengthen Roofs • Safety Groups Want Earlier Stability Control Rule --- • More about Rollovers ...

Automakers in Washington are working feverishly to convince the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to scale back proposed regulations calling for stronger vehicle roofs.

NHTSA has proposed increasing roof strength standards more than 50 percent to 2-1/2 times vehicle weight in an effort to reduce deaths and injuries in rollover crashes. The agency wants the new roof standard to maintain sufficient headroom for an average sized adult male.

The price tag for the stronger roofs could reach above $100 million in additional costs for vehicle research and redesign. The regulation would, for the first time, include bigger sport utility vehicles and pickups.

The auto industry is wary of design changes that could make vehicles heavier or less aerodynamic, affecting fuel economy and emissions. They also believe greater seat belt use may be more helpful than stronger roofs.

About 60 percent of the people killed in rollovers are not wearing seat belts according to safety figures.

Both U.S. and foreign automakers have sent their Washington representatives to NHTSA in an effort to win their argument with regulators and weaken the the proposed roof strength regulations.

"Our bottom line is ensuring that any changes or any rule that comes out has sound science behind it," said Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

Rollover crashes account for roughly 10,000 fatalities annually or a quarter of all U.S. traffic deaths according to NHTSA statistics and roughly 600 deaths and 800 injuries are caused by head contact with a collapsed roof in a rollover.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety charge that the automakers are trying to dilute what safety advocates believe to be an "already weak" NHTSA initiative.

Regulators face a Congressional requirement to complete the roof crush regulation by July 2008.

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