Consumers Union (CU) Responds to Isuzu's Law Suit
31 July 1997
Response by Consumers Union (CU) President to Isuzu's Announcement That the Automaker Is Suing Consumers UnionStatement of Rhoda H. Karpatkin, President Consumers Union (Publisher of Consumer Reports) YONKERS, N.Y., July 31 -- Consumers Union stands by the correctness, fairness, and impartiality of our tests. The issue here is consumer safety. We believe consumer safety would best be served by the prompt development of a rollover standard by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). It granted our petition for such a standard on May 14, 1997, and we urge them to move quickly. Nevertheless, we welcome an opportunity to place our data and reports before any court or jury, and are confident that our tests and impartiality will be upheld in that forum. We haven't seen the legal complaint but we have heard the wild statements and false accusations at Isuzu's press conference. Isuzu's assertions were unjustified in every respect. We will prove that fully and unhesitatingly. Consumers Union Stands by Its Tests; NHTSA's Own Videos Confirm Trooper's Tendency to Roll Over Statement by Dr. R. David Pittle, Vice President and Technical Director Consumers Union (Publisher of Consumer Reports Magazine) Response to Isuzu Decision to Sue CU Over 'Not Acceptable' Rating of Trooper The Isuzu Motor Corporation is flatly wrong. CU's tests are valid and unbiased. Our 1996 tests of the Isuzu Trooper were thoroughly reviewed by our own highly experienced automotive engineers and their validity supported by automotive experts and other respected auto safety organizations. For example, the highly respected Insurance Institute for Highway Safety independently supported our position and found "the CU petition and supporting documents effectively established that its test is not biased." Even more strikingly, videos of NHTSA's own tests of the Trooper and its twin, the Acura SLX, illustrate clearly and dramatically that both vehicles tipped up severely on a course designed to simulate a driver's avoidance of an object in the road. Unlike our tests, NHTSA did not run any comparative tests against similar vehicles. When a government agency charged with safety experiences the same tip-ups we did, its proper response is to investigate the serious problems that were demonstrated. For 18 years now, NHTSA has cast a blind eye to the serious problem of rollover safety. We believe the government is failing to carry out its responsibilities to protect its citizens from potential hazards. Worse, in this case, we believe this is a risk that could be reduced significantly by relatively minor changes in the vehicles' design. When we tested the 1995 and 1996 Trooper and 1996 SLX on our emergency- handling course, they tipped up 62 out of 125 times at speeds of 36 mph and higher. Not one of the three other sport-utility vehicles we put through the same tests at the same time -- the Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota 4Runner, and Chevrolet Tahoe -- tipped up at all. In fact, over the past nine years, only two of 61 vehicles we have put through our test have been rated "Not Acceptable" because they tipped up -- the 1988 Suzuki Samurai and the Trooper/SLX twins. Isuzu's major claim is that we intentionally oversteered the cars to make them tip -- something we have never done in our 61 years of testing any product, nor would ever do -- but fails to mention the amount of steering a driver needs to make in order to get a vehicle to respond. The engineering data confirm that the Trooper/SLX require slightly more steer to get through the same course as the other sport-utility vehicles we tested. Because they didn't test any other models, the government failed to take that into account as well. Had they tested the Trooper/SLX with true peer vehicles, they would have learned that. CU's testing and integrity are now under an unjustified attack, and we're prepared to defend them fully. The real issue is consumer safety. Consumers need vehicles that will perform safely in emergency encounters on the road -- and most vehicles do. For more than 60 years, Consumers Union -- as an impartial and independent organization beholden only to consumers -- has tested products fairly and impartially, and reported our results to the public in that way. Other Auto Safety Organizations With Knowledge and Interest In Rollover Safety Brian O'Neill President Insurance Institute for Highway Safety 1005 Glebe Road Arlington, VA 22201 Tel # 703-247-1500 Fax # 703-247-1678 Steve Oesch Vice President Insurance Institute For Highway Safety 1005 Glebe Road Arlington, VA 22201 Tel # 703-247-1500 Fax # 703-247-1678 Judith Stone President Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety 750 First Street, NE Suite 901 Washington, DC 20002 Tel # 202-408-1711 Fax # 202-408-1699 Jerry Donaldson Sr. Research Director Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety 750 First Street, NE Suite 901 Washington, DC 20002 Tel # 202-408-1711 Fax # 202-408-1699 SOURCE Consumers Union