U.S. safety chief targets SUVs

Don’t tell Don Bristol that SUVs are unsafe. The Round Lake Beach man owns two, and he’s looking to buy a new one.

“You get to sit up higher, which is a safety thing,” Bristol said. “You get a good feel of the road. In a lighter car, you tend to bounce around more.”

For years, government safety numbers have told another story: Sport-utility vehicles and pickups are more dangerous than cars because their high ground clearance makes them prone to roll over. Rollovers account for 61 percent of deaths in SUVs, 44 percent in pickups and 22 percent in cars, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Now, the head of that agency has leveled the most direct criticism yet of SUVs, fueling America’s love-them-or-hate-them debate about the big vehicles. Jeffrey Runge, the nation’s top highway safety official, warned Tuesday that the government would set tougher safety rules if automakers didn’t build safer SUVs and pickups.

“I would not put an inexperienced driver in a vehicle that is rollover-prone,” Runge said in Detroit, where he addressed a conference of auto industry officials and analysts.

Runge’s remarks upset carmakers, who questioned his credentials and pointed to other statistics that they say show the problem is too few people wearing seat belts.

Meanwhile, drivers–those who swear by their SUVS and those in smaller cars who swear at them–found another opportunity to square off in the Great SUV Debate. Along with concerns about rollovers and damage that the big autos can inflict in collisions, SUVs have come under fire from environmentalists who say they consume too much gas.

Becky Davidson wasn’t shy about sharing her feelings for SUVs as she shopped Wednesday in downtown Chicago.

“They’re big. They’re ugly. They hog the road,” she said. “And people who drive them think they can drive recklessly because they’re in a big, safe SUV.”

While she’s far from alone in her criticism, increasing numbers of Americans are finding themselves quite comfortable in the driver’s seats of SUVs.

In 1984, the government began requiring SUVs to carry stickers warning of their tendency to roll over. But SUV sales have risen from about 300,000 in 1984 to 4.2 million last year.

That’s one out of every four new vehicles sold in the U.S.

Despite the government’s concerns, SUV owner Bristol won’t be deterred. He says the higher stance and all-wheel-drive capability of his 2001 Toyota 4Runner make him feel more secure.

“On a bad day, any vehicle would roll in certain circumstances,” he said. “The key is–if you’re a responsible driver, you’re a good driver–you shouldn’t find yourself in a tenuous position.”

Shopping for groceries on the Northwest Side, Craig Hartmann took offense at criticism of SUVs like his 1989 Dodge Raider.

“That’s like saying a [Chevrolet] Corvette is a safe vehicle because it’s low to the ground,” he said, though he conceded that SUVs don’t drive like cars.

“They don’t handle as well,” he said. “You can’t stop as fast. You can’t go into corners as fast. But as long as you understand that, you’re all right.”

Not surprisingly, as SUVs gain in popularity, more people are dying in accidents involving them. Deaths in light trucks, the government category that includes SUVs, have risen 44 percent since 1992, to 11,677, Meanwhile, passenger-car deaths have fallen 5.4 percent, to 20,233. (Car deaths are higher because more cars are on the road.)

In his speech, Runge urged automakers to lower the center of gravity of SUVs and add electronic devices that reduce the chance of rollovers. He also recommended installing curtain-type side air bags designed to keep occupants from being ejected in rollovers.

Auto industry officials responded by saying that SUVs are safe and that automakers are voluntarily installing side air bags and other safety devices. The Mercury Mountaineer and Mercedes M-Class are among SUVs that offer such head protection.

Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which represents most major automakers, said deaths in rollover accidents are more the result of occupants not wearing seat belts. She cited government data showing 72 percent of those who died in rollovers weren’t wearing seatbelts.

“Rollovers are only part of the story,” she said. “SUVs maneuver differently than passenger cars, and people need to know their vehicle. Safety is a shared responsibility. Consumers need to buckle up.”

Bergquist also sniped at Runge for being inexperienced. Last year, President Bush appointed Runge, an emergency room physician, to the safety post.

“This is a very difficult thing when someone comes in from the private sector,” Bergquist said. “There is always a steep learning curve because there is so much data.”

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On Runge’s suggestion for SUVs to have lower centers of gravity, Bergquist said that “would make them more like passenger cars–lower and wider” when consumers want trucks or trucklike vehicles.

“There is that choice in the marketplace,” she said. “People buy what they want and need.”

SUVs were derived from pickups, but in recent years most new models have been based on passenger cars. The industry refers to them as “crossovers”–models with SUV-like styling but carlike rides and lower centers of gravity.

Crossover sales grew 23 percent last year, to 1.2 million units; sales of truck-based models rose less than 1 percent.

Runge said car-based models are less likely to roll because they are closer to the ground. But there is little supporting data yet because those vehicles are relatively new.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an organization funded by the insurance industry, has yet to publish statistics comparing car- and truck-based SUVs. But Chief Operating Officer Adrian Lund said, “We are seeing a little reduction in the rollover rates, especially with smaller SUVs.”

She added: “It’s too early to say whether this is a result of the design or a big change in the demographics of who is driving these vehicles.”