Filed under: Trends
NHTSA driving new rollover crash protection
The National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration is pushing automakers to come up with better technology for side-curtain airbags, which often
don't deploy in rollover crashes.Designed to deploy when triggered by a side impact, the curtains may not activate in a slower rollover event. Some vehicles do include rollover sensors that deploy the curtains when the vehicle tips, but others do not, and this information may not be available to car buyers.
NHTSA wants side-curtain airbags to help prevent people from being ejected from the vehicle in a rollover crash, a problem which leads to more than 5,000 deaths a year. Rollover crashes in general cause one-third of passenger vehicle fatalities. Read about the NHTSA's research into rollover crash accidents here.
There are problems, however. Rollover events are less predictable and relatively slow compared to impacts, and curtain airbags may not stay inflated long enough to provide protection through a multiple rollover crash.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Doc Reed 6:43PM (12/29/2005)
And what is it that rolls over almost all the time? Why, yes, it's SUV's. So we have a bunch of soccer moms and their macho hubbys tipping their bloated trucks over and we spend a bunch of taxpayers money to save them. I say let it be survival of the fittest, and if we lose a few of those dumb enough to clog up our roads with bloated tubs, so be it.
Actually, many of those injuries the NHTSA is worried about do not occur during the accidents, but rather when the occupants find themselves hanging upside down in their SUVs and undo their seatbelts, thereby falling on their heads and often injuring their necks.
If they would by something reasonable (with a much lower center of gravity, they would save a lot of gas, would be far less likely to be in accidents (ever hear of agility) and would be less of a threat to put their bumper-mounted cowcatchers through the side of my car. And my wife the paramedic wouldn't have to use so much of her work time pulling losers out of their upside-down SUVs.
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Kevin Buchanan 6:54PM (12/29/2005)
Look no further than Volvo's XC90 to see a very effective rollover protection system. When the car senses roll angle going beyond the point of no return, it blows up the side curtains and keeps them inflated for several seconds throughout the rollover. Combined with its extremely strong roof structure, the XC90 does a fantastic job of protecting occupants during rollover. During my period of work with Volvo, I saw videos of the XC90's rollover testing at the Volvo safety center in Sweden, and it was remarkable how strong and protective it was in those situations. One video I remember in particular showed the XC90 being shot out of a building sideways, rolling several times, and coming to rest on its side. Not only was the roof structure intact, but most of the side windows weren't even cracked. What was really neat was how you could pause the video at the instant the car began its rollover and see the side curtains deploying for protection.
Hopefully other manufacturers will take steps to improve rollover protection as well.
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zverg 8:51PM (12/29/2005)
#1 - But if it wasn't for the fat, lazy Americans (boy I'm being redundant.. but I digress) your wife would be out of a job.
DAMN YOU SUVS!
So many SUV bumpers wouldn't even hit the side airbag sensors on my car because they would hit my side windows not the doors. Damn my Protege5 for being so small.. but that's the way I like it. I drive along getting 34mpg and amazing handling and laugh at stupid SUVers.
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md 9:54PM (12/29/2005)
wouldn't it be more effective to just fit them with good roll cages? It would be great if SUVs came stock with rollcages, because that would be one less thing I would have to add. It would also make SUVs apear and feel more utilitarian, so a few people might stop driving them like sports cars. If SUVs went back to being simple and truck-like, fewer soccer moms and yuppies would buy them for mall crawling. If the problem is that people are being ejected from their vehicles, clearly they aren't wearing their seatbelts, so why should automakers have to cator to the stupid people? If you are wearing your seat belt correctly, chances are you will walk away from a rollover crash, regardless of the vehicle.
Of course, this begs the question of why is the vehicle rolled over anyways. You can make emergency meanuvers in an SUV, unfourtunatly the typical American driver is not trained to handle that type of vehicle in extreme situations. SUVs don't just flop over from the wind (well, the Bronco II did) it takes driver errors to flip them.
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zverg 10:10PM (12/29/2005)
Good point #4 (md). I know I'll get flamed for this (someone always does) but I demand special licensing tests for any vehicle classified as an SUV, whether on a unibody or ladder chassis. It's ridiculous to think that with the pathetically easy license tests we have here in the states that anyone with a license is capable of driving a big blindspot-filled SUV.
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md 11:12PM (12/29/2005)
I actually like the idea of seperate certifications for different vehicle types. I would also support closed-course intensive accident avoidance and emergency meanuver training (using all types of vehicles: Sedans, pickups/SUVs, sports cars, minivans) for everybody seeking a license in addition to the certifications. People will say its too expensive, but if it is run through the DMV it could be subsidized with taxes, and the only fees would need to be for insurance and processing. I am saying all that as an SUV driver (its just a jeep, not a behemoth). Of course it would also require the constricting of SUV classification. Legally, my PT Cruiser is an SUV, but I once took it off the pavement (a meadow) and inflicted several hundred dollars worth of suspension damage. An SUV should be able to handle a torn up access/logging trail stock, no less a grassy field. And the CRV and Highlander are no more SUV than than the Dodge Magnum or any other station wagon.
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J 8:26AM (12/30/2005)
"...to help prevent people from being ejected from the vehicle in a rollover crash, a problem which leads to more than 5,000 deaths a year."
If only there was some sort of strap that people could put around their waist or shoulders to keep them in the car in case of an accident or rollover.
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Doogs 10:21AM (12/30/2005)
Gee...72% of the people who died in rollover accidents were not wearing seatbelts. I'm shocked!
And nearly 3/4 of fatal rollovers took place on roads with speed limits of 55 mph or higher? Are they saying rollover fatality may be linked to speed?
Half of all fatal rollover crashes involve alcohol? What?
85% of all rollover related fatalities are the result of single-vehicle crashes. Does this imply it is the driver's own damn fault for crashing?
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I think side-curtain airbags should be set to deploy in a rollover situation, if only to do what they are meant to do and protect against side impact, in this case with the ground.
But, without a seatbelt, a side-curtain airbag is about as likely to save a person's life in a rollover as a front airbag is in a head-on collision.
BTW, I like the site the NHTSA has set up. It is a rare and glorious thing to see a government entity put something out that advocates personal responsibility.
Wear your seatbelt. Don't drink and drive. Pay attention to the road and the situation around you.
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