Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Applauds NHTSA Plan to Develop Rollover Rating System
15 May 1997
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Applauds NHTSA Plan to Develop Rollover Rating SystemSport Utility Vehicles are Involved in 70 Percent of All Fatal Rollover Crashes WASHINGTON, May 15 -- Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) strongly supports a plan announced yesterday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to develop a rollover rating system for passenger cars and light trucks, including vans, minivans, pickups and sport-utility vehicles. Advocates has been pushing the agency to develop such a rollover rating system for years. Each year, nearly 42,000 people are killed in motor vehicle crashes, and more than 3 million are injured at an annual cost to society of more than $150 billion. Rollover crashes account for nearly 10,000 of these deaths or 25 percent. "Sport utility vehicles are the fastest growing segment of the new car market, yet until now, there has been no effort by NHTSA to establish a rollover rating system for these popular vehicles," said Judith Lee Stone, President of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. "Sport utility vehicles account for nearly 70 percent of rollover fatalities. When this rating system is established and the results are made public, consumers will have more safety information about the real-world crash experience of vehicles they are considering purchasing." According to a recent Louis Harris poll, 52 percent of those polled feel it is "very important" that the federal government set strict safety standards for sport utility vehicles, and 75 percent of those surveyed would be willing to pay $200 to $300 more for added safety features to prevent rollover. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is a broad-based alliance of consumer, safety, health and law enforcement groups and insurance organizations working to promote effective highway safety legislation and policies at state and federal levels. For more information, including detailed comments on our position on a rollover rating system, please contact Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety at 1-800-659-BAGS or visit our World Wide Web site at http://www.saferoads.org. SOURCE Advocates for Highway Safety