WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are to announce today that they will conduct demanding road tests on selected 2004 passenger vehicles — including SUVs and pickups — to determine how likely they are to roll over in common highway emergencies.
The new tests are intended to provide consumers with the first-ever rollover ratings based on vehicle performance, in an era when sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks have replaced the station wagon as a primary mode of transportation. As a result, there has been a sharp increase in the number of victims of rollover crashes.
To assess performance, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will subject vehicles to a test called the "fishhook" or "road edge recovery maneuver."
The test involves jerking the wheel of a vehicle moving at 35 mph to 50 mph sharply in one direction, followed quickly by a more extreme swerve to the opposite side. That will re-create what happens when an SUV drifts off the pavement and the driver panics — a typical sequence in rollovers, automotive and government officials say.
Until now, regulators have relied on a mathematical calculation based on vehicle weight and geometry.
Test vehicles will be driven by a robotic controller, programmed to repeat equivalent turns of the steering wheel in different cars, pickups and sport utility vehicles. Video cameras will record whether the wheels lift up, but specially designed outriggers will keep vehicles from flipping.
The agency initially intends to use the test to rate about three dozen model year 2004 vehicles, with results expected to be announced early next year.
"After all these years of SUVs on the road and rollovers, the public will finally have what we hope will be a suitable basis for informed decisionmaking," said David Champion, director of automotive testing for Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports magazine. "A dynamic test can take into account suspension, tires and the presence of stability-control systems, instead of the rather crude (calculations) they are currently using."
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
