Federal regulators have adopted a new safety standard to prevent passengers from being tossed out of the side windows of vehicles in rollover crashes.
The new rules apply to cars and light trucks under 10,000 pounds, and automakers can meet the standard by installing larger side curtain air bags.
“Rollover crashes are the deadliest of all crash types and this is another important step in our efforts to reduce fatalities and serious injuries that result from them,” David Strickland, head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said in a news release. “When fully implemented, we believe this standard will prevent on average 373 fatalities and 476 serious injuries every year.”
In 2009, 35 percent of all auto accident fatalities — or about 8,267 deaths — were in rollover crashes. That was somewhat better than most years over the past decade, during which the annual death toll from rollover crashes averaged around 10,000. As Reuters reports, about half of those killed in rollovers are ejected, and most are ejected through side windows.
NHTSA said in its 310-page final rule that side curtain air bags “will be made larger to cover more of the window opening” and “more robust to remain inflated longer,” among other safety improvements. The incremental cost of meeting the rule with only curtain air bags is projected to be $31 per vehicle, or $507 million annually for all cars sold in the U.S.
The new rules will be phased in over five years, with all newly manufactured vehicles required to meet the standard by 2018. Automakers could also supplement larger air bags with improved window glazing to prevent shattering.
NHTSA’s suggestion of stronger side windows will doom the 300/yr victims of vehicle immersion, as well as others who are victims of entrapment (i.e., fire), to a horrible death. NHTSA’s ruling is intended to protect vehicle occupants who refuse to wear seatbelts. Not wearing seatbelts is a conscious decision by the vehicle occupants; NHTSA’s own statistics have shown the great benefits of wearing seatbelts. While I agree that side air bags will save lives, it has been proven that stronger side window glass will render glass-breaking tools ineffective, thereby preventing escape during an entrapment situation.
My awareness of this issue began when my grandson drowned in his car three years ago. Since then I have researched vehicle immersion and consulted with experts around the world who all agree that immediate exit via a side window is crucial to survival. Being able to break the side window glass is essential, but if automakers follow NHTSA’s advice, everyone trapped in a vehicle will be prevented from escaping, and thereby surviving.
My research shows that the majority of immersion survivors escaped through a window, in many cases by breaking the glass themselves or having help from a bystander. NHTSA has chosen to ignore me and other advocates, despite years of effort on the part of many concerned people. The glass industry has had NHTSA’s ear for a long time, and of course they would profit greatly from a change in auto glass requirements.
Please contact me for more information and links to experts who have studied this issue for year and years (including Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht of Manitoba who has published his findings and demonstrated his immersion tests in videos that are available to the public). My web site also provides information, links, statistics, etc.: http://sites.google.com/site/getoutaliveorg/.