Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Driving SUV Dos and Don'ts
Aired November 12, 2002 - 06:44 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY: If you drive, odds are that you drive an SUV or you know someone who does. One out of every four vehicles sold in the U.S. is a sports utility vehicle. So as their popularity grows, so does the safety concerns.
And Julie Vallese joining us now with -- from Washington with more on this.
Hello -- Julie.
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Catherine.
Single vehicle rollover crashes cause more fatalities than any other kind of crash on the road. And while fatalities of rollovers in passenger cars have been decreasing, the number of fatalities of SUV rollovers has been increasing by 35 percent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn. Brake.
VALLESE (voice-over): Encounter an obstacle on the road while driving an SUV, try to avoid it and this is what could happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn left. Brake.
VALLESE: Encounter that obstacle while driving a passenger car and the response is much different.
JOE FOSTER, PANOZ CHIEF DRIVING INST.: I think the primary mistake when somebody's driving an SUV is not understanding what the capabilities are and are not.
VALLESE: The SUV is traveling at the same speed as the passenger car, the brakes applied at the same spot, but it takes almost a full car length more for the SUV to stop; and the differences don't stop there.
DR. JEFFREY RUNGE, NHTSA ADMINISTRATION: We have a situation now in the United States where over half of the new vehicles sold every year are light trucks or SUVs with higher centers of gravity and a higher rollover propensity than typical passenger cars.
VALLESE (on camera): While the popularity of SUVs grows, so does the risk of rollover fatalities. Safety experts estimate there will be approximately 70,000 rollovers this year where 2,000 people will die. (voice-over): It is not necessarily the vehicles that are more dangerous but how people drive them.
RUNGE: You know most rollover crashes are tripped off -- you know leaving the road, road departure or tripped crashes where someone was unable to maintain control and left the pavement.
VALLESE: It is that overcompensation that rolls the SUV over. The spinning out of a vehicle and whip back is what can cause it to flip.
So in driving an SUV, remember it's different than a car, brake earlier, turn softer and give more time and distance for everything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VALLESE: SUV's have been most popular among the group most likely to take risks, men under 40. But safety experts are hopeful fatalities will go down while -- when the vehicle becomes more popular with woman and moms -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: All right. Thank you, Julie.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 12, 2002 - 06:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY: If you drive, odds are that you drive an SUV or you know someone who does. One out of every four vehicles sold in the U.S. is a sports utility vehicle. So as their popularity grows, so does the safety concerns.
And Julie Vallese joining us now with -- from Washington with more on this.
Hello -- Julie.
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Catherine.
Single vehicle rollover crashes cause more fatalities than any other kind of crash on the road. And while fatalities of rollovers in passenger cars have been decreasing, the number of fatalities of SUV rollovers has been increasing by 35 percent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn. Brake.
VALLESE (voice-over): Encounter an obstacle on the road while driving an SUV, try to avoid it and this is what could happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn left. Brake.
VALLESE: Encounter that obstacle while driving a passenger car and the response is much different.
JOE FOSTER, PANOZ CHIEF DRIVING INST.: I think the primary mistake when somebody's driving an SUV is not understanding what the capabilities are and are not.
VALLESE: The SUV is traveling at the same speed as the passenger car, the brakes applied at the same spot, but it takes almost a full car length more for the SUV to stop; and the differences don't stop there.
DR. JEFFREY RUNGE, NHTSA ADMINISTRATION: We have a situation now in the United States where over half of the new vehicles sold every year are light trucks or SUVs with higher centers of gravity and a higher rollover propensity than typical passenger cars.
VALLESE (on camera): While the popularity of SUVs grows, so does the risk of rollover fatalities. Safety experts estimate there will be approximately 70,000 rollovers this year where 2,000 people will die. (voice-over): It is not necessarily the vehicles that are more dangerous but how people drive them.
RUNGE: You know most rollover crashes are tripped off -- you know leaving the road, road departure or tripped crashes where someone was unable to maintain control and left the pavement.
VALLESE: It is that overcompensation that rolls the SUV over. The spinning out of a vehicle and whip back is what can cause it to flip.
So in driving an SUV, remember it's different than a car, brake earlier, turn softer and give more time and distance for everything.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VALLESE: SUV's have been most popular among the group most likely to take risks, men under 40. But safety experts are hopeful fatalities will go down while -- when the vehicle becomes more popular with woman and moms -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: All right. Thank you, Julie.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
