by Zaf R.

Created on: December 27, 2008   Last Updated: January 07, 2009

"Sure it crumples like paper on impact, but it gets 50 miles per gallon!" Not a particularly amusing tag line especially if you happen to be the unfortunate casualty in the trade-off between crashworthiness' and fuel economy. There is no upside if you lose a child or spouse in a vehicular crash at a relatively low speed.

With the proposal by the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) that requires that cars reach an average efficiency of 35.7 mpg by 2015 (compared with the current average of about 31.3 mpg) and light trucks to reach 28.6 mpg (up from 23.1 mpg), and under the legislation passed last year, the overall average must reach 35 mpg by 2020; there is pressure to meet increased federal fuel-economy standards. This may lead auto manufacturers to make lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles that sacrifice crashworthiness standards.

Crashworthiness- the overall ability of an automobile to protect its occupants during an impact is measured by the NHTSA's five star rating system and is what automakers like to cite in their commercials. However, overall crashworthiness is the sum of individual components that contribute to a vehicle's safety- both before and after a crash, and to the probability of a crash occurring at all.

From a legal standpoint, defect liability is not limited to passengers but bystanders as well. They may have a legal case if any of these components, which are supposed to work in concert, fails at any point, leading to an overall systemic failure- and this is a real possibility as manufacturers try to weigh the cost-benefit of more efficient engines as opposed to lighter vehicles to achieve these standards.

There are basically five principles by which crashworthiness seeks to protect the passenger:

-Control Crush - Maintain Survival Space

-Restrain the Occupants

-Prevent Ejection

-Control Energy / Transfer Energy

-Prevent Fire

It's with these principles in mind, that engineers and designers make the choices over seatbelts, air bags and the like to meet the minimum safety standards as set by the NHTSA. However, satisfying individual standards does not necessarily translate into five- star crashworthiness in an actual scenario. The NHTSA's current standards have been criticized as outdated as more and more automakers achieve the five-star rating with apparent ease, making this yardstick appear unreliable.

If the NHTSA does reform standards, manufacturers will have the combined pressure of higher fuel mileage and crashworthiness standards. The door will be wide open for manufacturers to creatively perform crash tests and prepare reports that would stand up to litigation. Likewise, the door will be wide open for defect claims to match.

Meritorious or frivolous is for the courts to decide. All stakeholders owe it to themselves to be well informed. Vehicle defect liability will continue to be a contentious issue as transportation evolves and exposes outdated standards- and this is coupled with the fierce global competition for automobiles.

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