Crash-test report backs stronger roofs on SUVs

0 Comments | USA TODAY, March, 2008 | by Jayne O'Donnell and Sharon Silke Carty

For years, the strength and safety of some auto roofs have ignited fierce debate.

Some carmakers have denied any connection between roof strength and passenger safety. And regulators have struggled to find a direct link. But independent safety advocates have long argued that roofs crush too easily in rollover crashes, causing avoidable deaths.

Now comes a sobering conclusion in a report to be released today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety that suggests safety advocates and plaintiff's lawyers have been correct all along. It concludes that more than 200 deaths could have been prevented in rollovers in 2006 if just a few more SUVs had roofs as strong as the best one it tested.

The institute's conclusion is a stinging rebuke of the...