As automakers roll out 2006 models, two safety systems are showing up in unexpected places: on entry-level and midsize vehicles.
One is air curtains, low-pressure air bags usually mounted in the roof that deploy downward in a crash to prevent head injuries.
The other is electronic stability control that corrects for skids. This is important on sport-utility vehicles because sliding sideways can cause these vehicles with high centers of gravity to “trip” and roll over.
It’s not unusual to find these systems on premium vehicles from Volvo, which has a long history as a safety innovator, or on luxury vehicles from Mercedes-Benz. They also have been extra-cost options in many non-luxury models.
But this year these features are showing up as part and parcel of far less-expensive vehicles.
Last year Honda announced a “Safety for Everyone” initiative in which it would make certain advanced features standard on all its mainstream Honda and Acura cars and trucks before the end of 2006.
Honda said side-impact air bags to protect the torso, side curtains to protect the head and anti-lock brakes would be standard on all cars and trucks, except the Honda Insight and S2000. In addition, all Honda and Acura minivans, pickups and sport-utility vehicles will have electronic stability control as standard.
Honda said its eighth-generation, compact Civic, for example, will have all of the standard safety features, including side-curtain air bags, as the midsize Accord.
And the Korean automakers made big safety news.
Hyundai Motor Co. announced that the 2006 Sonata sedan, which went on sale in May starting at $18,495 (including the destination charge), would come with safety as standard. The new base model costs $1,901 more than the old. In addition to a redesign, that extra cost includes six air bags; electronic stability control; active front head restraints for whiplash protection; and anti-lock brakes.
Hyundai kicked off curtain bag use with the 2005 Tucson and said all new vehicles, including the entry Accent, will have them.
“We would love to see the industry come together and embrace this technology on every model,” said John Krafcik, vice president of product development and strategic planning at Hyundai Motor America.
“Hyundai has been very proactive,” said Anthony Pratt, an automotive analyst at J.D. Power and Associates, a market research firm. “They are gaining market share pretty aggressively. They have improved their quality significantly. The Sonata won best initial quality in our ratings last year for their segment … and they are using safety to sell the product as well.”
“The Big Three are adding air bags as well but often as optional equipment and charging extra,” Pratt said. “But they are making them available in vehicles that haven’t had them in the past in many cases.”
The Big Three have been concentrating more on electronic stability control, because they sell a tremendous number of SUVs. General Motors will make electronic stability control, a mainstay of full-size SUVs sold as StabiliTrak, standard on midsize models this year and on its remaining sport-utilities and vans by the end of 2007. By 2010, it will be standard across the GM board.
Ford has said that by the end of 2005, more than half a million of its sport-utilities equipped with AdvanceTrac with Roll Stability Control will be on the road.
This system combines AdvanceTrac electronic stability control to help prevent skids and sensors designed to predict and help prevent rollovers.
What is driving these technologies into more vehicles? Everything from consumer groups and safety advocates pressuring the industry to the desire by automakers to do well in tests.
Results of crash tests and studies done by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and other organizations have shown the effectiveness of head protection and skid control.
“It’s hard to argue that you shouldn’t be putting these technologies in vehicles when they are so effective,” said Adrian Lund, chief operating officer at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
An institute study released last October showed that vehicles with electronic stability control could cut fatalities in single-vehicle crashes by more than 50 percent. All single-vehicle crashes could be reduced by 40 percent by with that technology.
In vehicles with electronic stability control, a recent NHTSA study reported a 35 percent reduction in the risk of single-vehicle crashes for cars and a 67 percent reduction for sport-utilities. Fatalities in single-vehicle crashes were reduced by about 30 percent for cars and 63 percent for SUVs.
Lund said head protection reduces your risk of dying in a side impact by about 45 percent.
Side-impact tests are “virtually impossible to do acceptably without having side air-bag head protection,” Lund said. “And manufacturers want to do well in these tests because they know that safety sells.”
There are several reasons the industry is moving toward the curtain-style head air bags instead of relying on side bags with head and torso protection for people in the front seat, said institute spokesman Russ Rader.
First, the curtains provide head protection front to rear. They also block the side windows and prevent the occupants from being ejected, particularly in a rollover.
And it is much easier to meet the side air-bag testing criteria for out-of-position children with a smaller torso-only bag coupled with a curtain to protect the head.
The notion that safety sells and is important to consumers, is reinforced by recent studies done by J.D. Power and Associates. Its 2004 U.S. Automotive Emerging Technologies Study, showed that side air bags, including those with head protection, and stability control systems were of interest to at least three-fourths of consumers surveyed.
“You have the Mini and the Hummer,” said Pratt. “If they ever come into contact, you know who’s going to lose. I think people are becoming more aware of the risks and the technology that can protect them.”
