August 22, 2022 – The wrongful death suit that Ford lost in Georgia last week has something to do with a safety standard NHTSA revised in 2009, outlining the weight vehicles had to withstand in rollover crashes.
Back then, NHTSA said roofs in vehicles weighing up to 6,000 pounds had to withstand three times the vehicle weight, but NHTSA didn’t apply the same standard to heavier cars weighing between 7,000 and 10,000 pounds, saying these only had to withstand one-and-a-half times their weight. That lower safety standard is becoming a problem.
The agency ignored warnings from safety advocates that the roof- crush standard should be just as strict regardless of weight, but NHTSA said the cost of strengthening roofs on heavier vehicles would outweigh the benefits. Many cars that drivers in the U.S. currently use do not meet the NHTSA safety standard from 2009.
