New NHTSA roof-strength standards come under attack

William Chu, a retired engineer, has raised his hand in objection to the new NHTSA roof-strength standards. He says that if anything, they make matters worse. Who cares? Well, the guy is the author of the original 1971 standard, so that probably gives him a bit of credibility in the matter. His object seems to center around the idea that the new standard establishes an upper limit as well as a lower one for roof strength, but that’s not entirely clear at this time. I’ll follow up with additional information if I find out more. The article notes that the proposal is said to save only 44 of the 10,000 that perish annually in rollover-related accidents, so avoiding rollovers should still be high on the list of any driver’s priorities.

By eric@bryantperformance.com
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William Chu, a retired engineer, has raised his hand in objection to the
new NHTSA roof-strength standards. He says that if
anything, they make matters worse. Who cares? Well, the guy is the author of the original 1971 standard, so that
probably gives him a bit of credibility in the matter. His object seems to center around the idea that the new standard
establishes an upper limit as well as a lower one for roof strength, but that’s not entirely clear at this time. I’ll
follow up with additional information if I find out more. The article notes that the proposal is said to save only 44
of the 10,000 that perish annually in rollover-related accidents, so avoiding rollovers should still be high on the
list of any driver’s priorities.