Editorial: Safety redesign is overdue

Wednesday, March 22, 2000 | 9:49 a.m.

For those who drive compact cars, and even for those who own four-door sedans, terror often is the first response many experience when looking into the rear-view mirror and spotting a mammoth sport utility vehicle hurtling toward them. Dangerous driving isn't just the province of SUV owners -- Las Vegas residents can attest to the fact that reckless driving comes in all car shapes and sizes -- but when these mammoth vehicles get in accidents, they can do tremendous harm.

So it was encouraging when the New York Times reported Tuesday that automakers are acknowledging for the first time that SUVs can create extraordinary dangers to other motorists and, because of this, many of these makers will start changing the design of their vehicles to make them safer. This is a step that is long overdue. As the Times' story noted, statistics show that SUVs are nearly three times as likely as cars to kill the other driver in a crash.

While a consensus among the makers is developing to lower the SUVs' underbody steel rails to reduce the risk that they will override a normal-sized car's bumpers and doorsills in an accident, there is no uniform standard yet to ensure compatibility. Until all makers share basic design information, so they can create vehicles that will complement each other's safety features, the potential impact on improving safety could be minimized. Automakers previously have fought government regulations imposing safety compatibility standards but, as the Times reports, that view no longer is universally held, as some foreign makers acknowledge the necessity of international regulations.

It will take a few years to fully implement the new, safer vehicles, and the fact is that all those older SUVs without the advanced safety designs will still be on the road. Still, building better-designed SUVs is a step forward in making our roads and highways safer for all motorists -- no matter how small the vehicles they are driving.