Ford pickup safety 'poor'
Crash safety of best-selling U.S. vehicle 'bad as it gets,' insurance
group says
June 4, 2001: 10:52 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON (CNN) - The nation's top-selling vehicle, the Ford F-150
pickup truck, fared poorly in high-speed crash tests, according to a new
study of large
pickup trucks by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which found
the results ranged from good to poor for other makes and models.
In 40 mph tests, the institute characterized the safety performance of
the Ford F-150 and Dodge Ram as poor. In the case of the F-150, the
institute said it's about as "bad as it gets."
Two other large pickups tested by the instituted fared much better.
The Toyota Tundra got a good overall rating, along with a good rating for
five of six sub-categories. It received a marginal
rating only for the chance of a injury to a driver's right foot.
The GMC Sierra 1500 and its twin Chevrolet Silverado 1500 received a
marginal rating overall, with a good rating for its
prevention of different types of injuries, but poor ratings for the cab's
structural integrity as well as how well the airbag, seat
belts and other restraints restricted movement by a crash dummy during
the test.
Ford said other test results have shown the F-150 to be "outstanding,"
with a high level of safety. The F-150 has been the
nation's best-selling pickup for the past 19 years.
Still, the institute's rating comes at
a bad time, as the world's No. 2 automaker fights charges by tiremaker
Bridgestone/Firestone that it is
ignoring safety problems in the design of its best-selling Explorer
sport/utility vehicle.
More than 170 deaths have been tied to
rollover accidents involving Firestone-brand tires on Ford vehicles,
primarily
the Explorer. While Ford has insisted
the problem is the design of the tire, Bridgestone/Firestone officials
insist that the
design of the Explorer played a role
in the accidents.
DaimlerChrysler, maker of the Dodge
Ram, said no single test reflects a vehicle's "real-world safety."
But the institute's evaluation was
harsh. The F-150 "exhibited major collapse of the occupant compartment in
the offset
test," said Brian O'Neill, the
institute president. "As a result of this collapse, the dummy's movement
wasn't well
controlled. High-injury measures were
recorded on the dummy's head and neck. The airbag deployed late in the
crash,
and this also contributed to the high
injury measures."
"This was a very poor performer," O'Neill said.
The institute is a private organization funded by auto insurers. The
institute's crash-worthiness evaluations consist of three performance
measurements: occupant
compartment intrusion, injury measurements of a dummy in the driver seat,
and analysis of how well the vehicle restraint system controlled dummy
movement.
Institute used higher-speed
crash test
The institute has been testing vehicles in 40 mph offset crashes to
complement the governments 35 mph full-width crash tests since 1995.
In the frontal crash test, the Tundra's occupant compartment had very
little intrusion, and its doors still worked afterward. Engineers take
eight measurements of
intrusion around the dummy and two additional measurements of shifts of
the inside compartment. The Tundra's measurements were solid. The crumple
zone and
safety cage all held up well.
"A key aspect of protecting people in crashes is keeping the space around
the occupants intact," O'Neill said. "Then the safety
belts and airbags can prevent significant injuries, even in very serious
crashes. This is what happened in the Tundra, but not in
the F-150."
Check here for a look at auto stocks
James Vondale, director of Fords' automotive safety office, called the
frontal offset test "an extremely severe high-speed test
that does not often occur in real-world situations."
"That said, we are certainly examining the results of the test to see if
any structural changes can be made without compromising the already high
level of safety of the
vehicle," Vondale added.
In its statement, Ford said government data show the F-series pickup's
performance to be "outstanding" in real-world crashes and added that the
pickup has
performed well in crash tests by the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
NHTSA's crash tests gave the 2000 F-150 four stars out of a possible five
for protecting driver and passenger in a frontal crash, and the top
five-star rating for a
side impact.
The 2001 F-150 has not been tested by NHTSA for a frontal crash but the
side impact once again got a five-star rating, while the 2001 F-150
extended cab pickup
got a four-star rating for protecting the driver in a frontal crash, a
five-star rating for protecting the front-seat passenger in a frontal
crash, and a five star ratings for
protecting both front and rear seat passengers in a side crash.
The Dodge Ram had problems similar to the F-150 in the institute's test.
It also received a poor rating. The dummy had significant movement in the
offset crash and
the airbag deployed late.
In a statement, DaimlerChrysler said it recognizes the importance of
providing consumers with crash-test information, but doesn't think the
tests adequately describe
the safety of the Ram.
"Our first priority is to engineer vehicles that perform safely in the
real world, as well as to meet all standards established by the federal
government," the statement
read. "Our second is to do well in consumer rating tests. However, no
single test can measure a vehicle's overall safety performance, and they
don't necessarily
reflect a vehicle's real-world safety."
The 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup got a five star rating from NHTSA for
protecting the driver and front-seat passenger in a frontal impact,
although no side impact
crash test has been conducted.
Relatively low injury measurements in the Chevrolet Silverado earned the
truck a marginal rating. There was concern with the intrusion to the
occupant compartment
and dummy movement in the offset test.
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