An Assessment of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Rating System for Rollover Resistance Special Report 265 (2002) / Chapter Skim
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Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 1: Introduction
Pages 9-20
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From page 9... ...
has noted that "single-vehicle crashes involving rollover accounted for 43 occupant deaths per million registered passenger vehicles in 1999, compared with 10 deaths per million in multiple-vehicle crashes." In 1999, 8,345 people were killed in single-vehicle rollovers, representing 26 percent of all light-vehicle occupant fatalities3 for that year, and during the period 1995–1999, an average of 19,000 people annually suffered severe injuries in such crashes (Garrott and Boyd 2001)
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test versus a test with rollover metrics based on dynamic driving conditions that may induce rollover events."6 NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S INITIATIVES ON ROLLOVER The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) formal initiatives on rollover began in 1973 with the issuance of an advance notice of proposed rulemaking for a safety standard that would specify minimum performance requirements for rollover resistance.
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. The 1994 notice from NHTSA terminating work on the development of a rollover standard also proposed a new consumer information regulation requiring manufacturers to label vehicles with information on rollover stability based on either tilt table angle or critical sliding velocity.8 After 20 years spent considering various options for a rollover standard, NHTSA shifted its focus to consumer information, and has pursued this approach ever since.
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regarding the efficacy of SSF: Since the vast majority of rollovers are tripped, we have now decided that primary consumer information should be based on factors rele vant to tripped as well as untripped rollover, and we have reconsid ered the merits of Static Stability Factor as an indicator of rollover risk for consumer information. (Federal Register 2000)
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. According to NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis, the vast majority of rollovers are tripped.10 An average of 7,866 untripped rollovers occurred annually during the period 1992–1996, constituting approximately 4 percent of all rollover crashes involving cars, light trucks, and vans (Federal Register 2000)
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includes guidance on interpreting the ratings, and notes that, "[as with] side crash ratings, it is possible to compare vehicles from different classes when looking at rollover resistance ratings." Information is provided on what consumers can do to reduce rollover risk; the importance of wearing a seat belt to reduce the risk of death or serious injury in a rollover crash is emphasized.
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. CONSUMER INFORMATION ON MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY Meeting Consumer Needs As noted earlier, in 1994 Congress requested that the National Academy of Sciences conduct an independent study of consumer needs for automotive safety information.
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. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's frontal offset crash test program also has resulted in significant improvements in vehicle design; among 32 updated vehicle designs tested since 1995, 20 have obtained improved ratings (IIHS 2001)
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Safety's frontal offset crash rating indicates it is possible for vehicles to achieve good ratings in several categories simultaneously. STUDY APPROACH AND ORGANIZATION OF REPORT To respond to the congressional study request contained in Public Law 106-346, the Committee for the Study of a Motor Vehicle Rollover Rating System undertook three main tasks: • A comparison of the information provided by the SSF static metric with that obtained from tests of dynamic vehicle performance;
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The mandate for this study did not require the committee to comment on NHTSA's dynamic vehicle testing activities under the TREAD Act or to recommend one or more dynamic vehicle tests as a basis for consumer information on rollover. Within the context of its charge, however, the committee has provided some comments on the use of dynamic testing in investigating rollover crashes and the associated challenges.
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2001a. Consumer Information Regulations; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Rollover Resistance; Final Rule.
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Presented by Joan Claybrook to the Committee for the Study of a Motor Vehicle Rollover Rating System, Washington, D.C., May 29.
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