U.S. Adopts New Side-Crash Standard Manufacturers of...

U.S. Adopts New Side-Crash Standard Manufacturers of passenger cars will have to provide more protection from side-door crashes under a new safety standard expected to save 500 lives a year, the Department of Transportation announced. The new safety standard--among the most complicated and significant ever set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration--is also expected to prevent about 2,600 injuries annually, Secretary of Transportation Samuel K. Skinner told a news conference on the Capitol lawn. Side crashes, the second-leading cause of injury and death in automobile accidents, account for 8,000 deaths and 24,000 injuries each year.