No Panacea for Risk of Truck-Car Crashes

The top U.S. auto-safety official said Monday that there is no clear solution to the dangers light trucks pose to cars in crashes and that any future regulations to minimize the hazard should be broadly drawn.

The remarks by National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator Ricardo Martinez signal that so-called vehicle compatibility will take years to address with a variety of strategies that are likely to be employed by auto makers.

Martinez told reporters that mismatches between hulking light trucks and smaller cars are a growing concern but that there is no single regulatory or design panacea for the problem.

“The problem is too big to be a one-trick pony,” he said during a media briefing at a five-day international auto-safety conference that will conclude here Friday with a summit on vehicle compatibility.

Vehicle compatibility has emerged as a major safety issue, as light trucks, sport-utilities, minivans and pickups are growing in popularity, comprising 47% of new vehicle sales so far this year. In 1996, 5,259 people died in crashes involving light trucks and cars, up 22% from 1991. More than 80% of the victims rode in the cars.

Martinez said that as many as 2,000 lives a year could be saved if light trucks were more compatible with cars.

The traffic agency began studying crashes involving light trucks and cars several years ago but intensified its efforts this year. In recent months, it has conducted four crash tests to study the dynamics of such collisions.

The results of the tests, to be released today, reportedly show that trucks that crashed into the side of a Honda Accord at 30 mph did not cause much greater injury to dummies inside the cars than when the cars were hit broadside by a mid-size sedan.

The findings would be surprising since federal statistics show that fatalities are five times more likely to occur when a truck hits a car in a side impact than when a car hits a car.

The results could slow a government push to force auto makers to redesign trucks to make them less aggressive. Martinez, who declined to discuss the results Monday, said the findings contained some surprises but are raw data from which no conclusions can yet be drawn.

Regulators and the insurance industry have been urging auto makers to alter designs of light trucks to reduce the threat to less hefty vehicles. But manufacturers say such changes would compromise the trucks’ safety.

Nonetheless, the auto makers are studying possible changes. For instance, some are exploring building sport-utilities off car chassis, giving the vehicles lower bumpers and more forgiving frames.

Others suggest that the most effective solution would be to improve the ability of all vehicles to withstand side impacts by using stronger door crossbeams and energy-absorbing material. Side air bags also would provide better protection to occupants, said Robert Lange, vehicle safety director for General Motors.

Martinez said tougher side-impact standards could be part of a broad solution but added that much more research is needed.

“Everything has trade-offs,” he said, “and you have to understand that before you make design changes.”