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Redesigned, Safer SUVs and Pickups Make the Grade

Washington DC June 13, 2006; The AIADA newsletter reported that a large number of SUVs and pickups redesigned to limit the threat they pose in collisions with smaller cars are now reaching the road.

A recent study shows the modifications will sharply reduce the number of fatal crashes of passenger cars and larger vehicles.

Automakers agreed back in 2003 to meet new redesign standards by 2009. According to The New York Times, "the new standards require automakers to lower by half an inch to several inches the height at which their vehicles' front ends hit other vehicles.

Sometimes this is done by adding a hollow steel bar below and behind the bumper, and sometimes by adjusting the entire frame of the vehicle so that it rides lower to the ground."

Nearly all 2005 light truck models of international nameplate autos met the standards. All 2006 minivans sold in the U.S. meet the requirements, according to the Times.

Charlie Territo, spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said automakers are committed to complying with the new standards beyond the 2009 deadline. "The implementation of this agreement moved much faster than any government regulation could have moved," he said.