CHICAGO – Auto manufacturers sometimes have to guess at which features they should put in their vehicles, but at other times the federal government makes the decision for them.
That is because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal agency that regulates new vehicles, continues to require safety features on cars and light trucks.
In addition to familiar mandatory safety gear such as seat belts and center high mounted brake lights, many 2006 models come with tire pressure monitors, or TPMs.
Borne of the Firestone tire failures, mainly on Ford vehicles, in 2000, the TPMs must illuminate a dashboard light if any tire falls at least 25 percent below the recommended cold-inflation pressure.
Manufacturers must install TPMs on 20 percent of 2006 models, 70 percent of 2007 models and all 2008 vehicles. Many automakers began installing them earlier.
NHTSA estimates that the devices will save 120 lives and prevent 8,400 injuries annually once all vehicles have them. NHTSA says it will cost manufacturers $50 to $70 per vehicle. The automakers are mum on what that adds to the price of a car.
Advanced air bags
All cars and light trucks have come with dual front air bags since the 1999 model year. For 2006, all models must have advanced air bags with sensors that can reduce deployment force based on the size and weight of the occupant or turn off the air bag if a seat is empty.
Advanced air bags arose from dozens of deaths and injuries to children and small adults from air bag deployments in the late 1990s. They are being phased in over three years, starting with 2004 models.
NHTSA usually gives automakers three or more years to prepare for new safety requirements, so new front head restraints announced late last year won’t have to be on vehicles until the 2009 model year.
The restraints for the driver and outboard front passenger will have to be larger and closer to the occupants’ heads. The rules call for them to be about four inches taller than current head restraints and no more than 2.2 inches away from the occupants to reduce whiplash injuries.
Head restraints cost $4.51
NHTSA estimates the new head restraints will prevent 17,000 whiplash injuries from rear collisions annually. About 270,000 are reported each year. NHTSA estimates cost per vehicle at $4.51.
Also due on 2009 models are power window switches that have to be pulled to close windows to prevent deaths and injuries to children. On vehicles with switches that are pushed, children can accidentally close windows while they are leaning out.
With rollover accidents receiving increasing attention in recent years, NHTSA in August proposed new roof-crush standards for the first time since 1971.
The current rules cover vehicles up to 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight (the weight of the vehicle plus what it can carry) and require that roofs be strong enough to withstand pressure equal to 1.5 times the vehicle’s weight.
NHTSA wants to change that to cover vehicles up to 10,000 pounds GVW, which would include large sport-utility vehicles and heavy-duty pickups, and require roofs to withstand 2.5 times the vehicle weight.
There’s also a controversial provisionx that a manufacturer can’t be sued for product liability if its vehicles meet the standard.
NHTSA spokesman Eric Bolton said the new roof standard probably won’t take effect until the 2009 model year or later. The agency estimates it will prevent about 44 deaths annually and add $11 to the cost of vehicles that don’t already meet the new standard, mainly for stronger roof pillars.
Deaths from rollover crashes rose 1 percent last year, to 10,553, with rollover fatalities among occupants of SUVs, which are more likely to roll in an accident, jumping 10 percent. The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, an industry trade group, had no comment on the proposed rules.
Modest benefit from roof change
Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said the group believes the new roof regulations would have “modest benefit” because many of the large SUVs already meet them.
“It’s not clear how much this is going to really improve the situation,” Rader said, adding that in two-thirds of rollover deaths, the victims aren’t wearing seat belts. “A new roof crush standard is not going to help in those cases.”
NHTSA expects to announce a new dynamic rollover test this year that will encourage manufacturers to install electronic stability control on all vehicles, speeding a process that’s under way.
Stability control has proven effective in reducing skids, a major cause of single-vehicle accidents. When vehicles skid off the road they can be tripped by curbs, ditches and other obstacles and roll over.
Several manufacturers, including DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Honda and Toyota, have made stability control standard on all or many of their SUVs without federal regulations.
The industry estimates that stability control was standard on 25 percent of 2005 cars and trucks and optional on another 25 percent.
The percentages should grow this year.
Though automakers don’t expect NHTSA to require stability control, Strassberger said, “the end result is that you probably would not be able to certify your vehicle without stability control.”
In a similar vein, NHTSA is working on tougher side-impact standards that industry observers say will speed the installation of side-curtain air bags, which offer head protection.
NHTSA’s side-impact standards do not specify air bags, but Strassberger said they are the most effective way to protect occupants. Most manufacturers install them on at least some models.
In side-impact tests conducted by the Insurance Institute, vehicles with side-curtain air bags typically score higher than those without them.
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