High Costs for Low–Speed Accidents

On April 9, 2001, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released the results of a test performed to determine the repair costs for SUVs and trucks involved in minor collisions. The Institute chose to test 4 brand new full size pickup trucks and 3 brand new small sport utility vehicles. The President of the Institute, Brian O'Neil, stated that low speed crashes are all too common today. These are the kind of collisions that occur when backing out of a parking space.

While all the vehicles are required to meet government safety standards, not all vehicles are required to meet the same standards. Specifically, there are standards in place regarding the crashworthiness of car bumpers, but there are no similar standards for pickup trucks and SUVs. This is due to the fact that pickup trucks were exempted from this standard by the government in the 1970s when they were classified as work vehicles. Sport utility vehicles were also exempted because they were classified as trucks. With the explosive popularity of SUVs and pickup trucks, these vehicles are no longer used just for work. They are now being driven in urban areas where low speed crashes are commonplace thus making the exemption outdated and very expensive for the consumer.

*For more information regarding crash testing visit the website for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety at www.highwaysafety.org.