The New York Times and other media outlets have been pounding the automotive industry for many months and indeed years now, essentially charging that manufacturers are knowingly putting cars on the road with defects that kill people. Or else engaging in criminal behavior to suppress knowledge about problems that arise.
But this article in the Wall Street Journal tells a different story. Cars have actually been getting safer, resulting in fewer traffic deaths.
Safety Gear Helps Reduce U.S. Traffic Deaths
Car Stability Controls, Multiple Air Bags Result in Fewer Injuries, Fatalities
By Andrea Fuller and Christina Rogers
Deaths in car crashes have fallen by about a quarter in the last decade, new federal data released on Friday show, as safety features built into the latest models have powered a drop in fatalities even as auto-safety recalls have surged.
The fall in deaths in newer cars has been especially sharp, a Wall Street Journal analysis of federal data shows. The number of fatalities in the latest model released each year has fallen by nearly two-thirds in the past decade. In 2013, new cars had a lower fatality rate than cars fresh off the line did just a few years earlier.
Overall, auto deaths fell 3.1% last year over the prior year and the number of people injured in auto crashes fell 2.1%, according to figures released Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Safety improvements, in particular electronic stability control systems that make vehicles less likely to flip, are responsible for at least part of the drop in deaths, according to auto-safety and industry experts.
David Zuby, executive vice president and research chief at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said many factors, including driver behavior, could influence fatality rates from year to year. But generally speaking “cars are getting safer,” he said.
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“Stability control is huge,” said John Capp, director of global vehicle safety for General Motors. “It’s head and shoulders above any other technology, since the seat belt, in terms of effectiveness.”
The latest results emerge after several large-scale defects have cast a shadow over auto safety, with manufacturers having recalled a record 52.5 million U.S. vehicles in 2014. Earlier this year, General Motors Co. recalled 2.6 million older-model small cars for an ignition-switch defect later linked to 42 deaths, despite knowing about the problem for more than a decade. Takata Corp. air bag inflaters made between 2000 and 2007 have been tied to five deaths globally after a series of ruptures, and auto-safety regulators are pushing for additional recalls.
Even with those defects, the annual number of traffic deaths began falling in 2006 after staying relatively flat for over a decade. It ticked up in 2012 before dropping again in 2013.
Victoria Easterday of Asheville, N.C., says her 2009 Subaru Forester saved her two years ago from becoming another fatality. The 69-year-old had fainted at the wheel because of a then-undiagnosed heart condition. Her vehicle veered across the highway, ping-ponged into several structures and finally flipped onto its side.
Though the violent impact broke her neck and wrist, Ms. Easterday survived the accident, she says, because of the car’s reinforced structure. In addition, she said, all air bags in the vehicle deployed.
Victoria Easterday of Asheville, N.C. totaled her 2009 Subaru Forester two years ago when she fainted because of a then-undiagnosed heart condition. She credits her car’s structural supports with saving her life.
After she regained consciousness, “the first thing I thought was, oh my God—those air bags—how are we going to get them back in those little holes?” she said.
The decline in auto fatalities stems largely from a drop in deaths in cars and light trucks. Fatalities in these vehicles have fallen by about a third since the mid-2000s. Though motorcycle and pedestrian deaths fell in 2013, they had increased the past few years.
The fatality rates fell fastest and were the lowest among the newest models of cars and light trucks, according to a Journal analysis of federal safety records and data provided by Experian Information Solutions Inc. That is no surprise, says Clarence Ditlow, executive director of safety-advocates Center for Auto Safety, since vehicles fresh off the line have new tires and little wear. Newer cars also typically are driven by older, more experienced drivers, he said.
But here’s the difference: In 2013, models from that year had a lower fatality rate than comparable brand-new cars in the years before. The fatality rate for those vehicles was 3.4 deaths per 100,000 cars on the road, about a third lower than the fatality rate for new cars five years earlier.
The improvements have been cumulative. For instance, cars two years old in 2013 had lower fatality rates than new cars in 2008.
Experian didn’t provide The Journal with the number of cars on the road by model year before 2008. However, the fatality tallies are available: In 2013, about 500 people died in that year’s model vehicle; in 1990, about 1,800 people died in a new car.
The broad decreases in fatality rates stem from several factors. Increased use of child restraints and seat belts has saved thousands of lives, according to NHTSA. Though mandatory seat belt laws went into effect in the 1980s, compliance increased throughout the 2000s. Laws that restrict driving privileges for young drivers also have reduced fatalities, said Michael Sivak, a researcher at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute. But a critical component in reducing the number of deaths is the snowballing improvements to vehicle-safety technology, say safety experts.
While regulators and auto makers have taken heat from Congress and face major lawsuits due to safety problems, officials have mandated better safety equipment in recent years. Through these efforts, car companies have added electronic systems designed to prevent crashes. While many safety features have been available in high-end models for more than a decade, only in recent years have those features become common in all cars.
Perhaps the most significant change, according to several auto safety experts, was the late-2000s requirement to begin phasing in electronic stability control. It was required from 2012 model years on. The technology helps drivers keep command of the wheel and has proved effective in preventing rollover. A NHTSA report estimated that electronic stability control saved over 1,100 lives in 2012 alone.
Another gain came from wider use of side, torso and knee air bags. The 2004 Ford Escape had two standard air bags—driver and passenger side. The 2014 model adds side, torso, and knee air bags as well as standard anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control, and rollover sensing.
“It’s really a symptom of what the industry has been doing in the last 20 years,” said Sue Cischke, who retired in 2012 from Ford Motor Co. after 11 years in safety engineering. “A lot of these technologies are [at] first options, and as they get more acceptance, they become standard.”
