Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Hyundai Elantra, Dodge Grand Caravan Receive Poor Safety Ratings

Aired July 17, 2001 - 10:08   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: If you drive a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan or a Hyundai Elantra, you may want to pay close attention to this next story. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is giving those two vehicles its worst rating and it says those findings should force the government to take a closer look.

Our Patty Davis has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan, the best selling minivan in America, one of the worst, though, when it comes to crashes, according to a testing group funded by the Insurance Industry. In head on crash tests at 40 miles an hour, it says the impact cracked the fuel tank.

BRIAN O'NEILL, INSURANCE INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: We're not suggesting that fuel leakage is going to occur in every kind of crash. But clearly if you're in a serious wreck in that vehicle, we believe there's a risk of fuel leakage and fire.

DAVIS: The 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan and the Chrysler Town and Country, which has the same design, flunked the first two crash tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. DaimlerChrysler disagrees and says it hasn't been able to replicate a fuel tank leak. In approximately 50 high speed severe frontal impact tests, the company says neither the Chrysler group nor the government have ever experienced this test result.

There are more than 300,000 of the 2001 Dodge and Chrysler minivans on the road. The Insurance Institute says Chrysler has fixed the fuel tank problem in its 2002 models and rates them acceptable. Also testing poorly, the 2001 Hyundai Elantra -- in repeated crash tests, the driver-side air bag deployed late, posing the risk of severe head injury.

O'NEILL: The air bag should be firing typically 20 to 30 milliseconds into the crash. In the second and third tests of the Elantra, we had abandoned buildings firing 60 milliseconds into the crash. That's too late.

DAVIS: Hyundai says it has not seen similar results in any other similar testing. All their vehicles, the company says, meet or exceed federal motor vehicle safety standards.

(on camera): The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says despite the test results, there's no real hard evidence to warrant an investigation into either the Elantra or the minivans. The Insurance Institute says the minivan problem is potentially so serious the government needs to take another look.

Patty Davis, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com