The U.S. Department of Transportation has instituted a series of new manufacturing requirements aimed at reducing the risk of rollover car accidents in Houston and elsewhere in the nation.
Houston injury lawyers know your chances of surviving an accident are usually best if you remain inside the vehicle. These rules aim to improve the odds for motorists.
“Safety is our highest priority,” said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “This new standard will help save lives and reduce injuries by requiring vehicles to have a safety system that keeps occupants in the vehicle in a rollover crash.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports more than 280,000 rollover crashes occur each year, causing an estimated 30,000 serious or fatal injuries. The government reports about one-third of all traffic fatalities involve rollover accidents. In more than half of those cases, the victim is ejected from the vehicle.
The new rules will require auto manufacturers to develop countermeasures aimed at preventing unbelted passengers from moving more than 4 inches beyond a side-window opening in the event of a crash. The new standards will be phased in beginning in 2013. All new vehicles must provide the protection by 2018.
“Rollover crashes are the deadliest of all crash types and this is another important step in our efforts to reduce fatalities and serious injuries that result from them,” said Administrator David Strickland, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “When fully implemented, we believe this standard will prevent on average 373 fatalities and 476 serious injuries every year.”
