Are sport utility vehicles, minivans and pickup trucks too heavy? The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA, pronounced "nit-sa") says they are and they need to lose some weight.
According to a New York Times article (June 11, 1997), NHTSA concluded that the rising number of sport utility vehicles, minivans and pickup tricks along with their increasing weight pose a growing danger to car occupants and pedestrians. A new NHTSA study says that in collisions between cars and light trucks, 80 percent of the fatalities are in cars. NHTSA concluded that
A reduction in truck weights is likely to generate significant benefits for pedestrians and car occupants that might exceed the added risk for occupants of the trucks.
What's NHTSA's solution? Fasten your safety belt for this one!
NHTSA says the average light truck now outweighs the average car by about 1,000 pounds. Reducing the average light truck by 100 pounds would decrease road fatalities by 40 per year, cut serious injuries by 601 per year, but increase less serious injuries by 1,794 per year.
But the estimated reduction in fatalities is not statistically significant! The margin of error is plus or minus 60 deaths. So it's a gamble whether reducing light truck weights would accomplish anything.
But you don't need statistics for this one. Who believes that reducing light truck weights by 100 pounds would make any measurable difference? If nothing else, the variation in light truck weight at any given time (due to weight of vehicle occupants, weight of cargo, etc.) makes the concept of reducing light truck weights by a paltry 100 pounds rather meaningless.
So should we have confidence in NHTSA? If you don't already know the answer, just ask the parents of the children killed by NHTSA-mandated airbags.
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Copyright © 1997 Steven J. Milloy. All rights reserved. Site developed and hosted by WestLake Solutions, Inc.