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CNN Live Today
Low-speed Crashes Can Generate High Repair Bills
Aired December 03, 2002 - 11:43 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Even a low speed crash like a parking lot fender bender, about four or five miles an hour -- well, even that could result in some very high repair bills on some vehicles. That is according to the new crash test results coming from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us now live from Rutgersville, Virginia with some details -- hello.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Well, these are the type of tests that wouldn't injure a passenger if you were in a five mile per hour crash, but Leon, it's really surprising how much damage is caused to the vehicles.
Now, what they did is they took a look at five new models, three smaller vehicles, and then two mid-sized. And unfortunately, one of the worst performers was the Suzuki Aerio. In each of the four tests they performed, they were front and rear into a flat barrier, rear into a pole, and then front into an angle.
It sustained an average amount of damage per test of $1,131. So it got a poor rating.
Now, David Zooby (ph) is with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. What happened? Why did it fare so badly?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you can see, this is the car that was struck in the right front corner barrier, and this bumper cover, which is a large, expensive piece, broke in three of the four tests. That accounts for some of the cost of the repairs, plus there are things underneath the bumper cover that are broken that need to either be replaced or repaired, so that we end up with almost $1,000 in every crash for an average of $1,100. This crash by itself caused almost $1,500 worth of damage.
KOCH: Surprising. Now, let's look at the next small car. They also took a look at this very trendy, very popular BMW Mini Cooper. Now, this one also sustained an average of $800 per test in the four tests, and got a marginal rating. What happened with this one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. I guess -- the problem with the BMW Mini Cooper is the bumper doesn't extend very far in front of the car.
KOCH: Pretty flat here, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So there isn't much stroking distance before, all of a sudden, the hood is becoming impacted by the barrier or another car. So you've got damage on the hood, we have damage on the bumper cover. The support panel for the radiator is cracked and needs to be replaced. The bumper reinforcement itself needs to be replaced. These are moderately expensive parts, plus there is a lot of labor involved with trying to fix this up. In addition, because there's so little energy absorbing in this bumper structure, we've damaged the main structural components, the frame rails, and they need to be straightened out in order to get the car back to a like-new condition.
KOCH: David, let's take a look at one of the really good performers. You also tested, as we said, some mid-size vehicles, one of them being the Audi A4, and this one sustained only an average of $216 in each of the four tests that were performed for a good rating. Now, when I look at this bumper, this the actual vehicle you tested, I don't see a scratch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is right.
KOCH: It looks perfect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In two of the four tests, the front into flat barrier and rear into flat barrier, the car sustained no damage at all. That is, it could be driven away, and you wouldn't even know that you were in a crash, you wouldn't need to take it to your insurance claims office, or to a body repair shop, and in the other two crashes, relatively minor amounts of damage, parts that could be replaced relatively inexpensively and easily.
KOCH: Now, you took the bumper off to show us what the secret was. Now, what is this? What are we looking at here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The idea behind the bumper design on the Audi A4, it that it starts with a very strong bumper reinforcement. This takes the forces of the impact and spreads it to these two shock absorbing units, which can push into the car, and then restore themselves after the crash. So in the flat barrier test, the bumper actually moved in toward the car, then moved back out, and there was only...
KOCH: Like a shock absorber.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like a shock absorber, exactly. And in the more severe pole test, where the load is concentrated just on a small point, we've bent this a little bit, and we have damaged the cover a little bit, but only about $400 worth of damage. The shock absorbers themselves and the frame behind the shock absorbers are in perfect condition.
KOCH: David Zooby (ph) with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, thanks a lot.
Now, these types of damages are really very common. When we talk about insurance claims for new vehicles, about half of them are claims of $1,000 or less, so the Insurance Institute believes by building a better bumper, essentially, that you can really make quite a dent, no pun intended, in those overall insurance costs -- back to you, Leon. HARRIS: Very cute. No pun intended, Kathleen Koch. Thanks a lot, Kathleen. We'll talk to you later on.
KOCH: You bet.
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 December 3, 2002 - 11:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Even a low speed crash like a parking lot fender bender, about four or five miles an hour -- well, even that could result in some very high repair bills on some vehicles. That is according to the new crash test results coming from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us now live from Rutgersville, Virginia with some details -- hello.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Well, these are the type of tests that wouldn't injure a passenger if you were in a five mile per hour crash, but Leon, it's really surprising how much damage is caused to the vehicles.
Now, what they did is they took a look at five new models, three smaller vehicles, and then two mid-sized. And unfortunately, one of the worst performers was the Suzuki Aerio. In each of the four tests they performed, they were front and rear into a flat barrier, rear into a pole, and then front into an angle.
It sustained an average amount of damage per test of $1,131. So it got a poor rating.
Now, David Zooby (ph) is with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. What happened? Why did it fare so badly?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you can see, this is the car that was struck in the right front corner barrier, and this bumper cover, which is a large, expensive piece, broke in three of the four tests. That accounts for some of the cost of the repairs, plus there are things underneath the bumper cover that are broken that need to either be replaced or repaired, so that we end up with almost $1,000 in every crash for an average of $1,100. This crash by itself caused almost $1,500 worth of damage.
KOCH: Surprising. Now, let's look at the next small car. They also took a look at this very trendy, very popular BMW Mini Cooper. Now, this one also sustained an average of $800 per test in the four tests, and got a marginal rating. What happened with this one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right. I guess -- the problem with the BMW Mini Cooper is the bumper doesn't extend very far in front of the car.
KOCH: Pretty flat here, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So there isn't much stroking distance before, all of a sudden, the hood is becoming impacted by the barrier or another car. So you've got damage on the hood, we have damage on the bumper cover. The support panel for the radiator is cracked and needs to be replaced. The bumper reinforcement itself needs to be replaced. These are moderately expensive parts, plus there is a lot of labor involved with trying to fix this up. In addition, because there's so little energy absorbing in this bumper structure, we've damaged the main structural components, the frame rails, and they need to be straightened out in order to get the car back to a like-new condition.
KOCH: David, let's take a look at one of the really good performers. You also tested, as we said, some mid-size vehicles, one of them being the Audi A4, and this one sustained only an average of $216 in each of the four tests that were performed for a good rating. Now, when I look at this bumper, this the actual vehicle you tested, I don't see a scratch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is right.
KOCH: It looks perfect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In two of the four tests, the front into flat barrier and rear into flat barrier, the car sustained no damage at all. That is, it could be driven away, and you wouldn't even know that you were in a crash, you wouldn't need to take it to your insurance claims office, or to a body repair shop, and in the other two crashes, relatively minor amounts of damage, parts that could be replaced relatively inexpensively and easily.
KOCH: Now, you took the bumper off to show us what the secret was. Now, what is this? What are we looking at here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The idea behind the bumper design on the Audi A4, it that it starts with a very strong bumper reinforcement. This takes the forces of the impact and spreads it to these two shock absorbing units, which can push into the car, and then restore themselves after the crash. So in the flat barrier test, the bumper actually moved in toward the car, then moved back out, and there was only...
KOCH: Like a shock absorber.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like a shock absorber, exactly. And in the more severe pole test, where the load is concentrated just on a small point, we've bent this a little bit, and we have damaged the cover a little bit, but only about $400 worth of damage. The shock absorbers themselves and the frame behind the shock absorbers are in perfect condition.
KOCH: David Zooby (ph) with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, thanks a lot.
Now, these types of damages are really very common. When we talk about insurance claims for new vehicles, about half of them are claims of $1,000 or less, so the Insurance Institute believes by building a better bumper, essentially, that you can really make quite a dent, no pun intended, in those overall insurance costs -- back to you, Leon. HARRIS: Very cute. No pun intended, Kathleen Koch. Thanks a lot, Kathleen. We'll talk to you later on.
KOCH: You bet.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
