Federal regulators urge side guards on large trailers
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is considering recommendations from another federal safety agency that it adopt rules mandating the use of side guards on trailers pulled by Class 8 trucks. Already required in Europe and parts of Asia, side skirts cover much of the gap between the bottom of the trailer and the road that exists between front and rear wheel sets.
Following a study of truck accidents, the National Transportation Safety Board found that smaller cars, motorcyclists, and pedestrians could ride under that gap, leading to serious accidents.
“Side underride collisions are an important safety problem because they defeat crumple zones and prevent airbag deployment,” NTSB researchers say in a letter urging action from NHTSA. “Airbags will not deploy in some underride collisions when the sensors to trigger them are not contacted by vehicle structures. Crumple zones do not work as intended in underride collisions when relevant passenger vehicle structures fail to engage tractor structures.”
At about $1,000 per trailer, companies have sold side skirts for years as aerodynamic improvements to boost fuel economy. NHTSA officials, who are already working on tougher rules for rear-underride equipment mandates, say they will consider NTSB’s recommendations. www.nhtsa.gov
Obama won’t push for nationwide sales clearances for Tesla
President Barack Obama’s administration says it will not get involved in Tesla Motors Inc.’s push to sell its cars directly to the public, instead of through franchised dealerships. In a response to an online petition at www.whitehouse.gov, special assistant to the president for energy and climate change Dan Utech says the president has no authority regarding state sales regulations.
“Laws regulating auto sales are issues that have traditionally sat with lawmakers at the state level,” Utech says. “We understand that pre-empting current state laws on direct-to-consumer auto sales would require an act of Congress.”
Tesla has run afoul of state regulations in New Jersey and Texas. The producer of electric cars has tried to set up its own showrooms instead of working through dealers. State laws forbid that practice throughout much of the country. Several states have modified their rules to allow for Tesla’s sales model.
Read Utech’s response to petitioners: http://1.usa.gov/1glXSdN
Easing pain at the pump
The majority of highly fuel efficient vehicles on the road today come from import brands, but that’s a trend Paul Elio, CEO of Elio Motors, hopes to reverse when he launches an American-made 3-wheel vehicle in 2015 that will get 84mpg and retail for $6,800.
The prototype vehicle is currently on a 33-city nationwide tour and is striking a chord with consumers, who are weary of high gas prices. Nearly 25,000 people have already made reservations to get a place in line to purchase an Elio.
With gas near $4 per gallon, it costs $2,600 to drive 15,000 miles in a vehicle with average fuel efficiency. Driving the same distance in an Elio will cost just $715, according to the company’s calculations.
Of course, millions of vehicles on the road today get significantly lower than average fuel efficiency. Most of these “clunkers” are low-cost vehicles owned by people who don’t believe a new vehicle is within their price range. For these consumers, Elio Motors will be a potential game changer. The vehicle is expected to cost four times less to operate and comes with a three-year, 36,000 mile warranty. www.eliomotors.com
Searchable recall database set to go live
NHTSA cleared the final rules needed to create a federal database of recalled vehicles that drivers can search by their vehicle identification numbers (VIN).
Proposed following the Toyota unintended acceleration cases in 2012, the rule goes live Aug. 20, 2014, and mandates a federally run database of all vehicles so consumers can track if there are any problems with their cars or trucks and whether or not repairs have been completed. Car shoppers will be able to use the site to see if used vehicles have received needed repairs.
By linking that data to the VIN, not the make and model, car owners will get only recall data specific to their vehicles. In addition to a federal website, major automakers will be required to make the database available on their own websites.
Several automotive lobbying groups filed challenges to aspects of the final rule – mainly technical objections to using specific types of data templates and problem codes. NHTSA agreed to work out some of those disputes but denied requests to delay implementation of the final rule. www.nhtsa.gov