Changes in Car Designs Dramatically Reducing Deaths

Washington DC Fevbruary 3, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that design changes to cars recently adopted by automakers have significantly reduced the number of fatalities of car drivers struck by an SUV or pickup.

A study performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety used data from the auto industry and the federal government to determine that in side impact collisions the number of deaths were nearly cut in half when automakers lowered SUVs by a little as half an inch, reports The New York Times.

The changes also reduced the frequency of deaths when an SUV is involved in a frontal collision with a car. According to the Times, “Lowering S.U.V.’s and pickups and adding energy-absorbing beams were two of the three ways automakers agreed to make light trucks less of a threat to cars.”