Cars, trucks and SUVs are designed to absorb a hit to their bumpers. But the bumpers of vehicles don't all line up. When the bumper of an SUV, mounted high off the ground, strikes the trunk of a passenger car mounted lower to the ground, it can result in injuries and thousands of dollars worth of damage. If the same two vehicles were to collide bumper-on-bumper, injuries and damage would likely be far less.
That's the argument the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is taking to federal regulators. Edmunds Inside Line explains, "Armed with a series of crash tests that dramatically show what happens when the bumpers of cars and SUVs don't line up, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) on Tuesday asked the federal government to rewrite its bumper standard. The consumer watchdog wants to extend the federal bumper standard for cars to SUVs, pickups and vans, which aren't covered under the current rules."
Kicking Tires notes, "There are no regulations on these vehicles currently; they can even be sold without bumpers."
The institute's tests "involved four SUVs crashing into the rear of a 2008 Hyundai Sonata at 10 mph." Damage to the Sonata differed radically based on the bumper height of the SUV used to hit the vehicle. The 2008 Ford Explorer, which features a bumper nearly the same height as most passenger cars, did $1,520 worth of damage to the sedan. The Hummer H3, with its considerably higher bumper, struck the sedan above its bumper and did $4,737 worth.
An IIHS press release claims the damage to the SUVs involved in the tests was lower when bumper height matched the sedan, as well.
Some truck and SUV fans argue that the higher ride-height of the vehicle is necessary for off-road work. The IIHS counters, "Light trucks in the 1970-80s had lower bumpers -- 19 inches or less -- than many of today's models, and they still were used off-road and at loading ramps."
Autoblog notes, however, "NHTSA has heard this argument before, rejecting petitions for porting the car bumper standard to light trucks in both 1984 and 1991. The IIHS is hoping that this time around, the fact that it's an organization proposing the change, and their new research, will sway the regulatory body in a more favorable direction." Safety advocates say the issue is more important now than ever before, however, "in anticipation of a super-tight oil supply and incoming waves" of tiny minicars designed to maximize gas mileage.
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