Roof Crush Rule

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November 22nd, 2005

"Consumer group calls NHTSA’s proposed roof crush rule “grossly inadequate”"

Public Citizen consumer group has called a proposed roof crush rule “so grossly inadequate that 70 percent of existing vehicles already meet it.”

Every year, rollover crashes kill 10,000 people, and many deaths and injuries that result from rollover crashes occur because vehicle roofs crush in. It has been over three decades since any rule changes have been made in vehicle roof strength standards, and Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook called the latest proposal “an egregious betrayal of the public trust.”

The current roof crush rule, issued in 1971, requires a vehicle roof to withstand the force of 1.5 times the vehicle''s weight. In the proposed standard, the agency will require a roof to withstand 1.64 times the vehicle weight, considered a “paltry improvement” by the consumer group.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration first began considering strengthening the roof crush rule in 2000 after the Ford Explorer-Firestone tire rollover tragedies occurred. The agency has admitted its proposed rule would save just 13 to 44 additional lives a year, despite rollover crashes being one of the largest single causes of deaths in recent years.

Since 2000, 50,000 Americans have died in rollover crashes.