Utility Vehicles to Sport Protection

Side-impact protection will be required on vans, light trucks and sport-utility vehicles starting in 1998, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Thursday.

These vehicles “are the station wagons of the 1990s, carrying families as commonly as cargo. Buyers expect these passenger-car substitutes to have the same safety features,” NHTSA Administrator Ricardo Martinez said.

Side-impact protection will be required in the vehicles starting Sept. 1, 1998, the agency said. Stronger doors and padding began being phased in for automobiles in 1993; all new cars will be required to have the protections by Sept. 1, 1996.

Sport-utility vehicles, light trucks and vans weighing less than 6,000 pounds meet most of the same safety rules as automobiles, the agency said. Imposition of the side-impact rule will make the major safety regulations the same for all.

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