U.S. Releases Vehicle Rollover Ratings
The government on Tuesday released rollover ratings for 33 new passenger vehicles, the result of a reinvigorated federal role in auto safety after the deadly series of Firestone tire failures on Ford Explorers.
The worst rating--one star--went to General Motors’ Blazer and Jimmy sport-utility vehicles, while the best--five stars--went to the Honda Accord. A pair of two-wheel-drive, extended-cab pickup trucks--the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado--did better than average in their class, with four stars each.
Only three vans were included in the models rated Tuesday, but two did exceptionally well. The Honda Odyssey got four stars, as did Chrysler’s PT Cruiser, the hot seller that the government classifies as a van.
Opposed by the auto industry, the ratings had been blocked in Congress until last fall’s outcry over tire safety. Most of the 148 deaths reported in the Firestone cases occurred in rollover crashes, after tires blew out and drivers lost control of their top-heavy SUVs.
The new ratings measure a vehicle’s basic resistance to rolling over if a driver runs off the highway into a curb or dirt, for example. They are based on a mathematical formula that takes into account vehicle height and width.
As a rule, passenger cars can be expected to obtain four to five stars, SUVs and vans two to three, and pickup trucks, about three.
The rollover resistance rating does not predict the likelihood of a crash, but is an estimate of the risk of rolling over in a single vehicle crash. A vehicle with five stars has a rollover risk of less than 10% in such a crash, while a one-star rating means a rollover risk greater than 40%.
Not all vehicle models, including many large sedans, were included in the ratings released Tuesday. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration expects to issue ratings for an additional 47 2001 model-year vehicles by April.
Auto makers are not required to put the ratings on the vehicles, but consumers can look them up on the Web at https://www.nhtsa.dot.gov as they become available.
The auto industry contends that the ratings are too simplistic, because they don’t assess how a vehicle actually handles on the road. Although a mathematical formula can roughly establish a vehicle’s propensity to roll over, track tests would provide more detailed and accurate information.
GM spokesman Greg Martin defended the Blazer and Jimmy and criticized the rating system. “This system is flawed and offers no meaningful information to consumers,” he said. “It is a simple formula that fails to comprehend a variety of factors that contribute to rollover.”
Congress has given NHTSA two years to come up with a rating system based on track testing. But there are many disagreements about what kinds of maneuvers should be required and what handling characteristics should be measured.
Public Citizen and other consumer groups said the ratings are a modest first step, but called for the government to do more. In addition to ratings, consumer groups want a rollover safety standard that auto designers would have to meet. The government has no plans for a rollover standard.
“There is a sense when you’re up high in an SUV that you are above trouble, and nothing could be further from the truth,” said Autumn Skeen, an auto safety advocate based in Walla Walla, Wash. Skeen was driving a family member’s SUV when she accidentally crossed onto the soft shoulder of a highway in 1996. The vehicle rolled three times, and her young son Anton was killed.
The Clinton administration said it hoped the ratings system would prod car makers to design safer SUVs. Officials noted that in 1979, when cars were first rated for safety in head-on crash tests, only 33% got four or five stars. Now, more than 85% do.
“By providing consumers with additional information, we can motivate manufacturers to respond with safer, more stable vehicles,” said Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater.
More than 10,000 people a year are killed in rollover crashes, according to the government. Rollovers account for more than 60% of the deaths in SUVs, compared with 23% of the deaths in cars. Eighty percent of the people killed in single-vehicle rollovers are not wearing seat belts.
Among the recent high-profile victims is star NFL linebacker Derrick Thomas, 33, who died last winter after being seriously injured when his Chevrolet Suburban rolled on an icy Missouri road. Thomas, who was not wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the driver’s seat and paralyzed. His death helped propel a nationwide campaign to encourage young African American men to buckle up.
Although it opposes the new ratings, the auto industry is not likely to seek their repeal during a George W. Bush administration. Instead, a leading industry group said it wants to work with federal regulators to design the next ratings system, which will be based on track tests.
“The message is that we take this seriously and we view dynamic [track] testing as something we need to do cooperatively,” said Scott Schmidt, a regulatory expert with the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
“You can’t tell how a vehicle will react by measuring it while standing still,” concurred Sally Greenberg, a lawyer for Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports. “You must drive it. You must evaluate it as a full system. These ratings are a very coarse measurement of vehicle stability.”
Track testing, said Schmidt, could take into account improved suspensions and high-tech design features such as electronic stability control, a computerized system that detects the beginnings of a skid and can apply the brakes individually to selected wheels to keep a vehicle on track. Overreaction to a skid can precipitate a rollover.
ESC was pioneered in Europe and is beginning to show up on some U.S. luxury cars under such brand names as StabiliTrak and AdvanceTrac. Because the new ratings don’t measure road handling, they can’t factor in ESC’s added safety margin.
“The technology that can improve safety in a rollover is not comprehended by this rating system,” Schmidt said.
Acknowledging that criticism, NHTSA said its newly announced ratings will make special note of any vehicle with ESC. Of the 33 initially rated, only one is so equipped, the Ford Focus, which obtained a four-star rating without taking into account its technological edge.
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SAFER SUVS
Ford has developed a suite of safety features for its sport-utility line. C2
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Rollover Ratings
The Transportation Department has tested 2001 model-year vehicles. Here are the best and worst, with extremes in bold.
Light Passenger Cars
Ford Focus, 4-door, ****
Compact Passenger Cars
Chevrolet Cavalier, 4-door, ****
Honda Civic, 4-door, ****
Pontiac Sunfire, 4-door, ****
Volkswagen Jetta, 4-door, ****
Medium Passenger Cars
Chevrolet Impala, 4-door, ****
Ford Taurus, 4-door, ****
Honda Accord, 4-door, *****
Mercury Sable, 4-door, ****
Sport-Utility Vehicles/Light Trucks
Chevrolet Blazer, 4-door, 4x2, *
Chevrolet Blazer, 4-door, 4x4, **
Ford Expedition, 4x2, **
Ford Explorer, 4x4, **
GMC Jimmy/Envoy, 4-door, 4x2, H
GMC Jimmy/Envoy, 4-door, 4x4, **
Jeep Grand Cherokee, 4x4, **
Lincoln Navigator, 4x2, **
Mercury Mountaineer, 4x4, **
Mitsubishi Montero Sport, 4x4, **
Oldsmobile Bravada, 4-door, 4x4, **
Chevrolet Silverado, ExCab, 4x2, ****
GMC Sierra, ExCab, 4x2, ****
Vans
Honda Odyssey, ****
Chrysler PT Cruiser, 4-door, ****
The Worst *
Chevrolet Blazer 4x2
GMC Jimmy 4x2
The Best *****
Honda Accord four-door
What the Ratings Mean
Risk of vehicle rollover in a single-vehicle crash:
*****: Less than 10%
****: 10% to 20%
***: 20% to 30%*
**: 30% to 40%
*: More than 40%
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
*Three-star vehicles do not appear for space reasons
