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CNN Live Today

Interview with Crash Test Expert Dr. Bella Dinh-Zarr

Aired May 24, 2002 - 12:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now shifting gears to safety on the road. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's latest low speed crash tests are far from impressive. None of the five mid-sized cars tested earned good ratings. The worst performer was the Jaguar X-Type. It sustained an average of roughly $1,700 in damage in a five-mile-an-hour crash test, one just like that. The Saab 95, Lexus IS-300, Volvo S60 and Hyundai XG 350 also allowed excessive damage.

The best performer was a Lexus ES 300. The Lexus and Toyota Camry earned reasonable ratings. The Nissan Altima and Acura TL did not perform as well.

And joining us from Washington to discuss the result is Dr. Bella Dinh-Zarr. She is the director of the traffic safety policy at AAA. Thanks for joining us.

DR. BELLA DINH-ZARR, AAA: Thank you for having me here.

WHITFIELD: Well, this is awfully discouraging, because a lot of people think if they are going to pay more for luxury cars or high-end cars, that they are getting a safer car. Not necessarily the case, is it?

DINH-ZARR: No, as you see from the results it didn't really matter the cost of the cars. There were various different results on different costing cars, and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety actually has tested different sizes of cars also. The reason that these results are very interesting is that they really highlight two important issues in traffic safety.

One, of course, is cost, which we are all concerned about. It is very timely because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also just released an important study looking at how much the motor vehicle crashes cost us here in the United States, and they found that it cost us over $230 billion every year related to crashes, and of course, this is -- a lot of this is due to property damage to the vehicles.

There's about 28 million vehicles that are damaged every year.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So as some of us decide to go out car shopping, we really need to pay attention to these crash test results, don't we? DINH-ZARR: Definitely. Really, the important issue here is safety, and the insurance institute studies also highlight this, in the sense that one of the cars they tested actually has a sensor where it alerts you if there is something behind you, and of course, you know, usually a low speed crash is not as dangerous, but it is dangerous to pedestrians.

So there are a lot of -- there are thousands of pedestrian injuries every year, and if this can alert to you a small child who you may not be able to see, this can be important safety feature.

WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk specifically now about some of those cars, perhaps the ones that are most eyebrow-raising, the Jaguar X- type. People buy that car for comfort, for luxury. They spend an awful lot of money but come to find out it did just about the worst among all of the cars. What do you see as the major problem area for this car -- particularly the rear bumper, I suppose -- during those tests?

DINH-ZARR: Well, every car, you know, has its benefits and problems, but I think the important thing is when you are shopping for a car, to -- we like to say, shop for safety, and there are basically three features that you should look for in a car.

First of all, you should try to look for good daytime running lights, because it makes you more visible to pedestrians or other vehicles. The second one, of course, is anti-lock brakes, because you are less likely to skid. And the most important function is that you should have -- all the positions in the car should have three-point seat belts, which are lap and shoulder belts, because not wearing a seat belt is the cause of most of the injuries that we see today.

WHITFIELD: Now one of this country's most popular cars is the Toyota Camry. Were you impressed by some of the numbers of how much it would cost in terms of the kind of damage it sustained? The rear into the pole damage cost $759, but the front bumper damage into a flat barrier was $243. Do you consider that reasonable?

DINH-ZARR: Well, you know, we hope that every car will have the least damage possible whenever you are getting into these type of crashes. But it really varies with the car, and the most important thing is, you know, to prevent the injuries of the people in the car and the pedestrians.

So if there is some way it safeguard against injuries, that's the most important thing.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, Dr. Bella Dinh-Zarr. Thanks very much for joining us from Washington.

DINH-ZARR: Thank you for having me.

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