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CNN Live Sunday
Interview With Russ Rader
Aired November 30, 2003 - 10:41 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Bumpers are a fun part of your vehicle, meant to protect you if you are in a crash, but if you drive an SUV, you may find yourself paying a lot of money to repair a simple fender bender. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted low-speed bumper tests on nine SUVs. And the results are in. And you're going to want to hear this.
From Washington, Russ Rader joins us. He's with the Insurance Institute. Russ, we talk about low speed. We're talking five miles an hour. Basically, you just nudge this thing and get it going. And of the SUVs that were tested, how did they do?
RUSS RADER, INSURANCE INST. FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: Well, we're testing these vehicles at basically a fast walking speed. Four or five mile per hour collisions, which simulate the kinds of fender benders that are common in supermarket parking lots, mall parking lots and commuter traffic. And we tested nine new mid-sized designs for this latest round of tests.
And they didn't do too well. We had damage ranging from about $400 for the best performer, which was the new Honda Pilot, to average damage per test of more than $1,600, for the worst performers which were the Kia Sorento and the Cadillac SRX.
CALLEBS: OK, we're going to call up a couple of these. You mentioned the Honda Pilot. Let's take a look at these graphics, and you can see, a little more than $400. The Honda Pilot received acceptable. Mitsubishi Endeavour, marginal. Same for the Nissan and the Lexus. And we should point out, the Mitsubishi experienced about $789 in damage. The Nissan close to $900. The Lexus close to $1,000.
And then you've got these guys. The Toyota 4Runner, Chrysler Pacifica, Infiniti FX35, the Cadillac SRX. Kia Sorento. And we've got to talk about these numbers, the specific numbers. All of those vehicles more than $1,200 in damage for a five-mile-an-hour bump. What does this say?
RADER: Well, to give you an example, some of the poorest performers had the worst trouble with the rear end of pole (ph) test. They had bumpers, for example, the Kia Sorento, the Cadillac SRX and the Chrysler Pacifica, their rear bumpers could not keep damage away from the expensive to repair tailgate. And it's expensive to repair crushed fenders, it's expensive to repair headlight components, and it's expensive to repair tailgates. And a bumper should not be so flimsy that it allows those expensive components to be damaged in a low speed collision. CALLEBS: Russ, I hear a lot of carmakers don't really like these tests. They say it perhaps highlights the kind of information that maybe the passenger shouldn't focus on first. The safety inside the vehicle is the priority.
RADER: Well, safety is the important priority. But consumer cost is also an issue. And when you look at vehicles that manufacturers want you to believe are rough and tough, and they sustain massive amounts of damage in these low speed collisions, it's important for consumers to look at that and take that into account. And they can compare the various ratings for SUVs, cars, pickup trucks and minivans by going to the Insurance Institute's Web site, which is highwaysafety.org.
CALLEBS: Now, you mentioned that these are some of the mid-sized SUVs, these aren't the big ones out there. But to any degree are these kind of like a work in progress, do they take the information that your organization highlights and then build on that and make these cars safer, and they can be repaired at a much cheaper cost in the future?
RADER: Well, manufacturers have made huge strides in making vehicles, including SUVs, much safer in high speed collisions, but they still have a lot of work to do in terms of minimizing the damage in low speed fender benders. We had damage here ranging from $400 for the Honda Pilot, which was rated acceptable, but big damage for a lot of the other ones. We've now tested 30 current mid-sized SUV designs. And most of them get marginal or poor ratings for bumper design. Unfortunately...
CALLEBS: In blunt terms, you say they basically stink. They should be a lot better?
RADER: They should be a lot better. It doesn't take a lot to make a good bumper, and it's not expensive to make a good bumper. For example, the new Volkswagen Beetle, which is one of the best performers that we've tested, has very good bumpers. And it sustained about $200 in all four of these tests.
CALLEBS: OK, Russ Rader, if you hate writing that insurance premium check every month, take a look at the results of this. Good information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Thanks so much for joining us here today.
RADER: Thank you.
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 30, 2003 - 10:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Bumpers are a fun part of your vehicle, meant to protect you if you are in a crash, but if you drive an SUV, you may find yourself paying a lot of money to repair a simple fender bender. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety conducted low-speed bumper tests on nine SUVs. And the results are in. And you're going to want to hear this.
From Washington, Russ Rader joins us. He's with the Insurance Institute. Russ, we talk about low speed. We're talking five miles an hour. Basically, you just nudge this thing and get it going. And of the SUVs that were tested, how did they do?
RUSS RADER, INSURANCE INST. FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY: Well, we're testing these vehicles at basically a fast walking speed. Four or five mile per hour collisions, which simulate the kinds of fender benders that are common in supermarket parking lots, mall parking lots and commuter traffic. And we tested nine new mid-sized designs for this latest round of tests.
And they didn't do too well. We had damage ranging from about $400 for the best performer, which was the new Honda Pilot, to average damage per test of more than $1,600, for the worst performers which were the Kia Sorento and the Cadillac SRX.
CALLEBS: OK, we're going to call up a couple of these. You mentioned the Honda Pilot. Let's take a look at these graphics, and you can see, a little more than $400. The Honda Pilot received acceptable. Mitsubishi Endeavour, marginal. Same for the Nissan and the Lexus. And we should point out, the Mitsubishi experienced about $789 in damage. The Nissan close to $900. The Lexus close to $1,000.
And then you've got these guys. The Toyota 4Runner, Chrysler Pacifica, Infiniti FX35, the Cadillac SRX. Kia Sorento. And we've got to talk about these numbers, the specific numbers. All of those vehicles more than $1,200 in damage for a five-mile-an-hour bump. What does this say?
RADER: Well, to give you an example, some of the poorest performers had the worst trouble with the rear end of pole (ph) test. They had bumpers, for example, the Kia Sorento, the Cadillac SRX and the Chrysler Pacifica, their rear bumpers could not keep damage away from the expensive to repair tailgate. And it's expensive to repair crushed fenders, it's expensive to repair headlight components, and it's expensive to repair tailgates. And a bumper should not be so flimsy that it allows those expensive components to be damaged in a low speed collision. CALLEBS: Russ, I hear a lot of carmakers don't really like these tests. They say it perhaps highlights the kind of information that maybe the passenger shouldn't focus on first. The safety inside the vehicle is the priority.
RADER: Well, safety is the important priority. But consumer cost is also an issue. And when you look at vehicles that manufacturers want you to believe are rough and tough, and they sustain massive amounts of damage in these low speed collisions, it's important for consumers to look at that and take that into account. And they can compare the various ratings for SUVs, cars, pickup trucks and minivans by going to the Insurance Institute's Web site, which is highwaysafety.org.
CALLEBS: Now, you mentioned that these are some of the mid-sized SUVs, these aren't the big ones out there. But to any degree are these kind of like a work in progress, do they take the information that your organization highlights and then build on that and make these cars safer, and they can be repaired at a much cheaper cost in the future?
RADER: Well, manufacturers have made huge strides in making vehicles, including SUVs, much safer in high speed collisions, but they still have a lot of work to do in terms of minimizing the damage in low speed fender benders. We had damage here ranging from $400 for the Honda Pilot, which was rated acceptable, but big damage for a lot of the other ones. We've now tested 30 current mid-sized SUV designs. And most of them get marginal or poor ratings for bumper design. Unfortunately...
CALLEBS: In blunt terms, you say they basically stink. They should be a lot better?
RADER: They should be a lot better. It doesn't take a lot to make a good bumper, and it's not expensive to make a good bumper. For example, the new Volkswagen Beetle, which is one of the best performers that we've tested, has very good bumpers. And it sustained about $200 in all four of these tests.
CALLEBS: OK, Russ Rader, if you hate writing that insurance premium check every month, take a look at the results of this. Good information from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Thanks so much for joining us here today.
RADER: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
