Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

SUV Safety

Aired February 26, 2003 - 09:16   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: America's love affair with the SUV apparently under more strain lately. The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, recently said they are dangerous, said that publicly, took a lot of people off guard. "USA Today" today reporting that some SUVs are deadlier than they used to be and deadlier than they need to be. It says automakers are making their front ends stronger to get higher scores in crash tests, but that means also, they say, trouble for the vehicles, the smaller vehicles they hit.
This morning, a Senate hear willing consider SUV safety. Let's talk about it in Ann Arbor now.

Jean Jennings from "Automobile" magazine is our guest back here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Jean, good morning to you.

JEAN JENNING, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "AUTOMOBILE" MAGAZINE: Bill, how are you doing?

HEMMER: I'm doing just fine. You saw the "USA Today" article I take it, right?

JENNING: I did.

HEMMER: To get good grades, SUV and pickup makers have built front ends so stiff it says, that they can batter smaller cars to bits. Your take on this is what?

JENNING: Well, good for "USA Today" for pointing out that that is not a government test, by the way. That was a test from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which we haven't really talked about. These are one-off tests, and they not real-world tests. The media has been very, very eager to run the result of these, though. And because of that, the industry has tried to meet these test requirements, which are actually done at speeds ten miles higher than the government requires.

HEMMER: Jean, cut through it -- are you saying tests are not reliable? Are they not dependable? Do you think they're skewed, what is it?

JENNING: They're skewed, they're not reliable, and they're run by the voice of the insurance institute, one of the last great unregulated industries, along with funeral directors. HEMMER: Take this one, though, from "USA Today." Nice look. It also says the research in the article find little proof that tests actually lead to vehicles that are better protecting their own objection pants. If that's the case, if that is true, is there anything on the outset of this that would perhaps coincide with that research and agree with it?

JENNING: Well, I think that's probably true. However, I would point -- you know, they talk about compatibility, these vehicles not being compatible to cars on the road. We have been sharing the road with semi trucks, with pickup trucks, with delivery vans for years. I think that the biggest mechanical problem is the loose nut behind the wheel.

HEMMER: Who's doing what, not wearing a safety belt, perhaps or...

JENNING: Well, not wearing safety belt in the big ones, which is causing, by the way, the fatalities in the -- quote/unquote -- "rollover problem." Seventy-six percent of the fatalities in SUV rollovers are from people not wearing their safety belt.

HEMMER: Listen, Jean, I can't speak for the loose nuts out there, but you mentioned those safety belts and the rollover issue. Look at the numbers we can put on the screen. We talked about this a month ago -- 3 percent of all accidents across the country are from rollovers, but 32 percent of all fatalities come from them. And of that number, 61 percent of the people who die as a result of an accident from an SUV is because of the rollover factor. You mentioned those safety belts. Is that playing the biggest part in this, or is it more?

JENNING: Seventy -- I can't talk this morning -- 76 percent of those fatalities are people not wearing their seat belts. You know, how can you account for that? I say the people that are driving these vehicles are not driving them properly.

Let's put our attention to driver safety and driver training. I live in Michigan. I have a big SUV. When it's snowing and icy, I go 40, 45, 50, and I'm passed regularly by people going 80.

HEMMER: In the short time we have here, what's going to happen in Congress today? What happens with lawmakers? Where's this issue headed?

JENNING: I think the government -- the industry is going to try and show that they're building safer vehicles, smaller vehicles, or trying to increase capacity in their plants for crossovers and mid- sized SUVs.

HEMMER: Thanks, Jean Jennings, "Automobile" magazine. Watch the loose nuts out there, all right? You give us something to remember every time you join us.

Thank you, Jean. Have a good day.

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 February 26, 2003 - 09:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: America's love affair with the SUV apparently under more strain lately. The head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, recently said they are dangerous, said that publicly, took a lot of people off guard. "USA Today" today reporting that some SUVs are deadlier than they used to be and deadlier than they need to be. It says automakers are making their front ends stronger to get higher scores in crash tests, but that means also, they say, trouble for the vehicles, the smaller vehicles they hit.
This morning, a Senate hear willing consider SUV safety. Let's talk about it in Ann Arbor now.

Jean Jennings from "Automobile" magazine is our guest back here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Jean, good morning to you.

JEAN JENNING, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "AUTOMOBILE" MAGAZINE: Bill, how are you doing?

HEMMER: I'm doing just fine. You saw the "USA Today" article I take it, right?

JENNING: I did.

HEMMER: To get good grades, SUV and pickup makers have built front ends so stiff it says, that they can batter smaller cars to bits. Your take on this is what?

JENNING: Well, good for "USA Today" for pointing out that that is not a government test, by the way. That was a test from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which we haven't really talked about. These are one-off tests, and they not real-world tests. The media has been very, very eager to run the result of these, though. And because of that, the industry has tried to meet these test requirements, which are actually done at speeds ten miles higher than the government requires.

HEMMER: Jean, cut through it -- are you saying tests are not reliable? Are they not dependable? Do you think they're skewed, what is it?

JENNING: They're skewed, they're not reliable, and they're run by the voice of the insurance institute, one of the last great unregulated industries, along with funeral directors. HEMMER: Take this one, though, from "USA Today." Nice look. It also says the research in the article find little proof that tests actually lead to vehicles that are better protecting their own objection pants. If that's the case, if that is true, is there anything on the outset of this that would perhaps coincide with that research and agree with it?

JENNING: Well, I think that's probably true. However, I would point -- you know, they talk about compatibility, these vehicles not being compatible to cars on the road. We have been sharing the road with semi trucks, with pickup trucks, with delivery vans for years. I think that the biggest mechanical problem is the loose nut behind the wheel.

HEMMER: Who's doing what, not wearing a safety belt, perhaps or...

JENNING: Well, not wearing safety belt in the big ones, which is causing, by the way, the fatalities in the -- quote/unquote -- "rollover problem." Seventy-six percent of the fatalities in SUV rollovers are from people not wearing their safety belt.

HEMMER: Listen, Jean, I can't speak for the loose nuts out there, but you mentioned those safety belts and the rollover issue. Look at the numbers we can put on the screen. We talked about this a month ago -- 3 percent of all accidents across the country are from rollovers, but 32 percent of all fatalities come from them. And of that number, 61 percent of the people who die as a result of an accident from an SUV is because of the rollover factor. You mentioned those safety belts. Is that playing the biggest part in this, or is it more?

JENNING: Seventy -- I can't talk this morning -- 76 percent of those fatalities are people not wearing their seat belts. You know, how can you account for that? I say the people that are driving these vehicles are not driving them properly.

Let's put our attention to driver safety and driver training. I live in Michigan. I have a big SUV. When it's snowing and icy, I go 40, 45, 50, and I'm passed regularly by people going 80.

HEMMER: In the short time we have here, what's going to happen in Congress today? What happens with lawmakers? Where's this issue headed?

JENNING: I think the government -- the industry is going to try and show that they're building safer vehicles, smaller vehicles, or trying to increase capacity in their plants for crossovers and mid- sized SUVs.

HEMMER: Thanks, Jean Jennings, "Automobile" magazine. Watch the loose nuts out there, all right? You give us something to remember every time you join us.

Thank you, Jean. Have a good day.

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