Can`t get too much safety - Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

INSURANG
INSTITUTE
FOR
HIGHWAY
WETY
May 23, 1992
\\>1.27. No 7
New car buyers across the United
Stales are looking lor safely, safely, and a
little more safely in their purchases. This
is the major finding of a new Institute sur-
vey 01400 prospective car buyers.
~Humans are riding in these cars,~ one
respondent said, indicating in simplest
terms why it is that safety features are so
important. Other respondents' comments
include the following:
need all the saletyyou can get.~
-rhe lact that injuries cost so much ...
so if you can save yourself in an automo-
~Safety is the most important thing in
being able to enjoy your new automobile.'
11le greatest reason Ihave lor wanting
a safe automobile is my three kids"
bile - I mean keep yourself out of the
~You
hospital-then it really is important.~
-You just never know when you're Sir
ing 10 get yourseU into a car accident:
2-IJIfS Status Report, Vat. 27, No.7, May 23, 1992
~ Anything could happen, so safety features in cars are really important.~
Some of the prospective car buyers in-
terviewed for this survey had been visit·
ing dealer showrooms. Others were thinking about doing so. All were age 21 or older and said they plan to purchase a new
car, station wagon, or minivan within the
next two or three months. All responded
to the following questions:
What ear features are you seeking?
[n response to this open-ended question,
20 percent of respondents mentioned air
bags. This puis air bags on par with such
popular car features as air conditioning
and behind only features like power locks
and windows as the items respondents are
seeking in their new cars. Antilock brakes,
Survey Question '7:
"For each feature I read
to you, please tell me
whether it's a very important consideration for you
whan buying a new automobile or van, whether
n's fairly important, or not
vary important."
Percentage of respon~
dents who rated various
automobile attributes very
important:
97%
90%
88%
76%
72%
70%
57%
46%
27%
Quality
Safety
Periormancel
Handling
Warranty
Price
Maintenance
Fuel economy
Styiing
Color
"Because I have five boys, I
think built~in car seats are the
greatest. And just knowing a
car is eqUipped with air bags is
comloriing for the safety.·
Cynthia Tobias
St. Louis, Missouri
mentioned by about 8 percent of survey
respondents, rank further down the list.
Wbkh aIlrtbolel are very Important?
When asked to rate things they're looking
for in their new automobiles, 90 percent of
respondents said safety is very important.
Among car buyers' main considerations,
safely ranks behind only quafity (97 percent). It ranks belore performance/ handling (88 percent) and six other attributes
including price and fuel economy. This
finding mirrors that of a previous Institute
survey of new car dealers, who said quality and safety are their customers' top considerations. (See Status Report, Vol. 25, No.
6, June 30,1990.)
What size car are you looking for - a
larger one, a smaller one, or the same size
as last time you bought a car? Atotal of 88
percent said they're looking for a car
that's the same size (50 percent) or larger
(38 percent). Only 11 percent said they're
looking for a smaller car.
The main reason for choosing a larger
car is the convenience it affords when
transporting a family (36 percent). Seven
percent volunteered salety as a reason for
choosing a larger car. ul think size plays a
role in safety,~ a respondent said, adding
that "I have a [large station wagon I and we
feel lots saler in it .... Those little throwaway cars get demolished in wrecks."
How Importanl are safety, styling, and
performance/handling compared with
when you bought your last car? More than
half (52 percent) said safety is more important this time than before, compared
with 16 percent for styling and 36 percent
lor performance/handling.
"I've been in an accident with
my children. Wrthout our seat
belts on and if our car had
been smallar, we'd have been
hurt because II ell happened in
the blink of an eye."
ChriS Golden
Columbia, S. carolina
IIHS StalUs Report, Vol. 27, No.7, May 23, 1992-3
My Skill, Your Skill
Wh.n surv.y r.spond.nts
were asked to rate their own
driving skills COlT1pIII8d with 1he
average driver in the United
States, tln....fourths seid 1hey
were above average drivers.
About a third said faf above
average. Forty-one percent
seid _ own driving is somewhol above av.rag•. In con·
Irast, only 2 pen:ent 01 resp0ndents seid 1hey consider 1heir
dnving abiIiIy below average.
"Virtually nobody beli.v.s
their own driving sl<iIls are b&low average. Most think
th.y'r. bett.r than averag.,.
says InstiM. Pr.sident Brian
O'N.i11. "This isn't surprising,.
he adds. "In fact, rasaarch hes
One female respondent said. MAs I gel
older, I think safety features are more important to me.~ Another said she wanted
her grandchildren, especially, to be sale.
In general, female respondents more than
males rated safety high on their list 01 car
buying considerations.
WbalIIIety h.... are very Impor1ant?
When asked about six specific salely features, more than half of the respondents
rated five of them as being very important. Air bags top the list. Sixty-seven percent said driver-side air bags are very important safety features. Antilock brakes
are next, follo.....ed by safety belts with ad--
reducing highway crashes.
Most driv.rs think th.y don't
need to chooge. They think II's
all 1he o1her drivers who need
to improve 1heir driving sl<iIls."
One reason salely has gained importance among new car buyers may be thai
motorists feel the hazards are greater on
the road now than they used 10 be. Half of
the respondents 10 the Institute's survey
said they feel more at risk now than five
years ago. Only 12 percent said they're
less at risk. More older drivers (GO years
and older) than younger ones said they
feel at increased risk.
"m going to reed you a
list of several safety fea·
tures available on some
. - cars. For each one,
pleasa ten m. whether
it's very important, fairly
important or not very important that yoU' . - car
hove this saIety_."
Percentage of respondents who rated various
automobile safety fealUres very important
67% Driver air beg
64% Antilocl< brakes
62% Ben adjusters
58% Side impact
prolaction
shown for years that. while
most drivers acknowledge
there are many poor driv.rs on
the road, II's always 1he o1her
guy. This goes a long way toward axplaining why education
and behavior change approaches aren't successful in
Survey au.uon 111:
54% Passenger
air bag
29% Buin·in
child seaJs
"When I was about eight y.ars
old a woman down the street
was killed in a car crash. Sha
left little children. It breaks my
heart to think of lhot heppen·
ing .... You know when you're
young you don't care, but as
you g.t old.r you assume
greater rasponsibillly."
BanyWeever
Dayton, Ohio
justabJe anchor points for height, ad·
vanced side impact protection, and passenger-side air bags. Twenty-nine percent
said built-in child seats are very important
- a percentage that rose to 45 among respondents with children younger than six.
The random digit dialing survey of
prospective new car buyers was conducted for the Institute during evening and
weekend hours in March by ICR Survey
Research Group. a division 01 AUS Consultants located in Media, Pennsylvania.
4-1IHS Slatus Rep,,", 1iJI. 27, Na. 7, May 23, 1992
Evidence Proves It Sobriety Checkpoints
Really Are Effective
~It is no longer necessary to ask
whether sobriety checkpoints can deter, ~
says H. Laurence Ross of the University 01
New Mexico, who conducted a literature
review on the effectiveness of checkpoint
programs for the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administratian (NHTSA). The U.s.
experience with checkpoints
to date indicates they do de-
tent of drunk driving and of deaths and
injuries on the highways:
Selected foreign literature was reviewed
because, Ross says, the "only evidence 01
relatively long-term deterrence from
something like checkpoints comes from
New South Wales, Australia" where a random breath testing program was implemented. However, Ross notes, for cultural,
legal, and other reasons a program like
the one in New South Wales couldn't be introduced in the United States.
ter a1cohol-impaired drivers.
Checkpoints are designed
to deler drinking and driving
by creating the public perception that impaired drivers are
likely to be caught and punished lor the oUense.
The use of sobriety checkpoints in this country has
been limited, Ross explains.
because of doubts about their
constitutionality that existed
prior to a favorable 1990 U.S.
Supreme Court ruling. Ross
reviewed nine case studies,
beginning with the first reo
ported evaluation of a check-
point program, a 1984 Institute telephone survey of publie perceptions about checkpoint use. The survey found that residents
of adjoining states, contrary to fact, perceived the chance of arrest for drinking
and driving to be higher in counties that
use checkpoints than in those that don't.
Ross reviewed a 1991 Institute study
of a successful checkpoint program in
Binghamton, New York. (See Status Repari, Val. 26, No.9, Oci. \9, \991.) Programs in Virginia, Aorida, Massachusetts,
New Jersey, Indiana, Arizona, and New
Mexico also were reviewed. Despite finding "methodological weaknesses- in some
of these programs, Ross says that all of
the evidence taken together shows checkpoints to be "capable of redUcing the ex-
Anumber of factors should be emphasized in order to maximize the deterrent
impact of sobriety checkpoints, says Ross.
These include making the nature and purpose of the checkpoints very clear to the
public, conducting the checkpoints with
sufficient frequency, ensuring adequate
media attention, and placing the checkpoints within the context of a wider enforcement strategy.
'"The Deterrent Capability of Sobriety
Checkpoints: Summary of the American
literature- by H. Laurence Ross is available from NHTSA's Office of Alcohol and
State Programs, NTs.20. 400 Seventh
Street SlY, Washingloo, DC 20590.
Prior DWI Conviction?
Odds Go Up of Being
In a Fatal Crash
Drivers convicted of alcohol-impalred
driving in the past three years are at least
1.8 times as likely to be in fatal crashes as
drivers with no prior coovictions during
the same time period. The drivers with
the convictions are also at least four
times as likely to be in fatal crashes
in which drivers have high
blood alcohol concentralioos
(0.\0 percent ar higher).
These are the conclusioos
of a recent National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) study estimaling
that 5.7 percent of drivers in
fatal crashes dUring 1988 had
at least one conviction dUring
the priar three years. NHTSA
didn't have similar data on
alcohol-impaired driving convictions for all drivers, so the
agency used data on the likelihood of arrest, finding that
as many as 3.3 percent of licensed drivers in 1988 might
have had prior arrests. This
Indicates 1.8 times as many
drivers with prior convictions in fatal crashes than
would be expected based on arrest data.
NHTSA points out this is a conservative estimate because only a fraction 01 ar·
rests actually result in convictions that
would appear on state driver records.
The agency concludes -that drivers
with prior convictions [for driving while
impaired by alcohal) are averrepresented
as drivers in fatal crashes: But it's important to recognize that 87 percent of
drivers with high blood alcohol concentrations in fatal crashes had no prior convictioos during the previous three years.
"Repeat DWI Offenders: !Jlv<>Mment in
Fatal Crashes- is available from NtfTSA's
OffKe at Alcohol and State Programs.
IIHS Status Report, lilt. 27, Na 7, May 23, /992-5
'They're not out there drinking anymore, and I think it
took me becoming paralyzed and In a wheelchair to make
my (rlends around here realize ..." This Is how one young
man interviewed in "Sober Thoughts" describes the change
In U.S. society. And It's true - people are becoming more responsible about how they
use alcohol in relation to driving. Still, there's plenty of alcohol.impaired driving
left. ThIs film focuses on a range of effective measures that can reduce the problem.
YES, Iam interested in receiving your -SOBER THOUGHTS-
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6-IIHS Status Report, Vol. 27, Na. 7, May 23, 1992
Truck Guards Could
Be Improved To
Reduce Underride
Acoalilion organized by the Citizens
for Reliable and Sale Highways wants a
much stronger truck underride standard
than the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration (NlITSA) is contemplating.
According to NHTSA. its proposed un-
derride rules would prevent only 9 to 19
deaths of the more than 500 that occur every year in rear crashes with trucks.
NHTSA states that ~underride occurs to
some extent in most collisions in which a
passenger car crashes into the rear end of
a large trailer," but the agency estimates
only about 60 deaths each year from un-
derride collisions with passenger compartment intrusion. NHTSA bases its effectiveness estimate solely on the capacity 01
rear truck guards 10 prevent crashes that
involve ~excessive underride" into the occupant compartment.
To reduce underride deaths NHTSA, af·
ter rulemaking thaI spans more than a
decade, finally is proposing lower,
stronger guards on the backs of trucks
than now are required. The coalition
counters that NHTSA's proposals aren't
enough to address the underride problem. Specifically, the group calls lor the
following changes:
I. NHTSA's proposed 22-inch ground
clearance lor the guard is too high to prevent many cars Irom underriding trucks,
the coalition says. It wants only 16 inches
of ground clearance instead of 22.
2. The proposed guard is so weak it
will "fail completely in a low-speed crash,"
the coalition says, proposing stronger
guards with energy-absorbing features like
hydraulic shocks or rubber blocks.
3. Too many trucks would be exempt
from NHTSA's proposed standard, the
coalition says, calling for underride requirements to apply to straight trucks
weighing more than 10,000 pounds as well
as to traclor-trailers.
Members of the coalition include not
only the Citizens for Reliable and Safe
Highways but also the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Insurance
Association, the Center for Auto Safety, the
Consumer Federation of America, the Insti·
tute lor Injury Reduction, the National Associalion 01 Governors' Highway Salety
Representatives, the National Head Injury
Foundation, Public Citizen, and the Trau·
rna Foundation.
, ,.
"•
- n.
I
"
,
~
Nancy Winkelman (left) came 1J:llhin Inches 0/ being decapilaJed in an underride muh. ·No one is really Sllfe. • slit says. because the rear guard on the truck her car hit failed to prerent the underride.
Stephen Brnn10rd Murroy (right) IOOS en route to go fishing with a friend u:hen the pICkup he /OOS riding
Ul undmode a trailer that IOOSR" ~ipped with a rear guard. Six )mil later, he still suffers from par·
hal blindness and spashC parem. He isn't able to read, uTite, drive, 100ft, Of liL'f. Independently. His
ICife says, .~ cartnOl go back and undo u:hat happened, but U"e can prevent It from happemng again.•
Correction
In the list 011984-88 cars with the lowest
occupant death rates per 10,000 registered cars during calendar years 198.).89
(Status Report, Vol. 26, No.4, April 13,
1991), the Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon was erroneously listed as the
Oldsmobile Cutlass Cruiser station wagon.
I/HS Slalvs Repon, 1bI. 27, Na. 7, May 23, /992-7
Theft Varies Widely
Among Car Models
Theft Claim Results, 1989-91 P8l1l18fl98' cars
- Volkswagens Worst
A _ Loss P"YmenI Per InaUf8d Vehicle Vee'
Bat
The 1989-91 car models with the highest overall insurance theft losses are two
Volkswagen models, the Cabriolet and
GTl, with average loss payments per insured vehicle year of about S200. This
Toyota Corolla 4WD statton wagon
Ford Escort station wagonSubaru Layale 4WD station wagon"
Buick Park AvenueFord Tempo 4WD 4-door
means that, for every Cabriolet and GTI in-
sured against theft, on average about 5200
is paid out in theft claims each year.
In contrast. the car with the lowest
overall losses is the Toyota Corolla lour
wheel drive station wagon with. an average
loss payment per insured vehicle year of
about $1. These are the results of the lat-
est report on insurance theft losses published by the Highway Loss Data Institute
(Hilll). HLDI is closely affiliated with. the
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The five 1989-91 cars with. the highest
frequencies 01 insurance claims lor theft
are all Volkswagen models: GTI, two- and
four.<Joor Jetta. two-door Golf, and Cabriolet The Gn's frequency of theft claims is
more than 100 times that of the car model
with the lowest frequency, the four.<Joor
Ford Tempo four wheel drive. However,
most Volkswagen models don't have especially high insurance payouts per individu.
al theft claim.
Average loss payments per theft claim
vary from less than $600 for Toyota
Corolla and Ford Escort station wagons to nearly S23,000 for the BMW
i35Il/15OiL
"These results reflect two very different patterns of theft c1aims,w explains
HLDI Senior Vice President Richard O. EIder. "The high claim frequencies but low
average payments per individual claim
for most Volkswagens indicate thel! 01 vehicle components like radios. On the other hand, some BMW models plus the InIinili Q45 and Chevrolet Corvette have
high average loss pa}'ffients per claim because the complete vehicle more frequently is stolen:
-
V olksw_ C8brioIet
Volkswagen GTI
C ~ Colvatte
convertible
Chevrolet Colvatte
BMW 3251 convertible
Small
Small
Small
Large
Midsize
$1
2
2
2
4
Small
$206
5maJI
SmaI
204
Small
Midsize
144
138
123
Claims Per 1,000 Insured Vehicle Yea,.
Bat
Ford Tempo 4WD 4-door
Mercury 8abIe station wagon
SubaN Loyalo 4WD station wagon""
C~
station wagon
Oldsmobile CutJass Supreme 4-doo~"
-
ca_
V olkswagen GTI
Volkswagen JoI1a 2-door
Volkswagen Golf 2-door
Volkswagen Jotla 4-door
Volkswagon
cabriolet
A _ Loss P"YmenI Per Claim
Bat
Toyota Corolla 4WD station wagon
Ford Escort station wagon.
Buick Park AvenueHonda Civic station wagon
Mazda 323 2-door""
Mldsizo
Midsize
SmaI
Midsize
Midsize
5maJI
Small
Small
Small
Small
Small
Small
Large
Small
Small
0.8
1.8
2.0
2.0
2.0
86.5
52.4
49.6
43.9
43.7
$555
596
703
n4
854
W_
BMW 735ilJ75OiL
Infiniti 045"
Chevrolet Corvette convertible
BMW 525V5351
Chevrolet Corvette
·'991 modeI8on1y
··'990-91 models 00Iy
4WO. toU" . . . drive
Large
Large
Small
Mtdsize
Small
$22,875
16,545
15,228
13,266
13,118
Vol. 27, No.7, May 23, 1992
On The Inside
lnltltute lIUJ'Vey of Dew car buyen shows
many want all the safety they can get ....p.l
Soney .............. rat. penoaaI drtvIDI
skills higher than average
p. 3
Sobriety cbeckpolntl found effective, new
NIfI'SA study reveals
p. 4
Prevlo.. alcobol-tmpairtd driving convictions mean drivers are more likely than
those without convictions to be involved
in fatal crashes
p. 4
New InsUtute ftlm on alcohol-impaired
driving explains the problem and discusses what works to reduce iL
, p. 5
CooIidoo bacb ......., ondtrr1dt stan-
dard lor trucks. says NHTSA proposals lail
to address the problem adequately
p. 6
Aolomobllt thdI
els are released
'or 1989-91 modp. 7
STATUS ~~ REPORT
1005 North Glebe: Road
Arlington. VA mol
(703) 247·1500 fAX (703) 247·1678
Director 0( Publk&llOf1$f£dltor. Anne flemlnll
Associate Editor: ReI Kerr Ho.... arth
Writer. Mw KJufllllllll
Edllorial AssISt1nt Carlene Hullhes
ClrtUlatlon: SIIeUy Montpnery
Oesi!JllProdoctIon: Diahalln Hill
The Insun.nce Inslltute lor High.... ay Safety Is li1 Indepeo.
dent, lIOlIfIlOlit, sclerltdk: lIld edumlonll orpnIutlon. It
is dedlclled to reducing the Joues - clu.tll5, injum, Illd
property damaIt -
raultll\llirom cr15hes on the nation's
higlno"lYS. The \nstIlule Is supported by the AIllerican 10SWIflCt 1Illh'-"IY SIIety Assodatlon, the AmerIan In$ur.
en I{rghwty Safety A11Wlce, the Natlollal Association 01
Jndependem Insurers ~. As.sodaIlon, Illd I lllIlDbfs cI
IndMdual ~ COlIlplliei.
Cunmu may bt rtpUbIlshed wboIe. or In put, with ann.
butloa. II )'OU Irt not now rKtivlnl SIo/llS Report but
woukI De to, contacl the Coarutlalions Dtpartmmt.
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