Bumpers are the first line of defense against costly damage
in everyday low-speed crashes. Bumpers on cars are designed to match up with
each other in collisions, but a long-standing gap in federal regulations
exempts SUVs from the same rules.
New crash
tests conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) demonstrate the results: SUV bumpers that don't line up with those on
cars can lead to huge repair bills in what should be minor collisions in
stop-and-go traffic.
"SUVs and cars share the road," says Joe Nolan,
the Institute's chief administrative officer. "The problem is they don't
share the same bumper rules, and consumers end up paying the price."
The standard
A federal standard requires that all cars have bumpers that
protect within a zone of 16 to 20 inches from the ground. This means car
bumpers line up reasonably well and are more likely to engage during low-speed
collisions to absorb energy and prevent damage.
But no bumper requirements
apply to SUVs, pickups, or minivans, so when these vehicles have bumpers they
often are flimsier and higher off the ground than bumpers on cars. Plus, SUVs
and pickups may not have bumpers at all.
In fender-benders with SUVs, cars often end up with
excessive damage to hoods, engine cooling systems, fenders, bumper covers, and
safety equipment like lights. SUVs don't always come out unscathed either,
often needing extensive work.
IIHS tests
The institute conducted 10 mph front-into-rear crash tests
involving seven pairs of 2010-11 models, each composed of a small car and small
SUV from the same automaker.
"We picked vehicles from the same manufacturer because
we think automakers should at the least pay attention to bumper compatibility
across their own fleets," Nolan explains. "The results show that many
don't."
In the tests, an SUV going 10 mph struck the back of its
paired car, which was stopped. Then the configuration was reversed, with the
car striking the back of its paired SUV. Results of these low-speed impacts
varied widely, from a total of $850 damage to one vehicle to $6,015 damage to
another.
In some cases, the crash damage included major leaks from
broken radiators and cooling fans. If these collisions had happened in the real
world, the motorists wouldn't have been able to drive away. If they did, their
vehicles could overheat, and the engines could be ruined.
Mismatched pairs
If bumpers don't match up, they'll bypass each other when
vehicles collide, and the resulting crash energy will crumple the vehicle body.
That's what happened when the Nissan Rogue struck the back of the Nissan Sentra
in the SUV-into-car test.
The Rogue's front bumper didn't line up at all with
the Sentra's rear bumper, and the resulting $4,560 rear damage tally for the
Sentra was the highest among all the cars in this test. The impact crumpled the
car's bumper cover, trunk lid, and rear body. The Rogue ended up with a crushed
and leaking radiator that kept the SUV from being driven after the test.
Bumper height mismatch contributed to pricey damage when the
Ford Escape struck the rear of the Ford Focus. Their bumpers overlapped less
than two inches -- not enough to protect the Focus's rear body and trunk lid
from $3,386 in repairs.
The mismatch problem with the Ford pair was even worse when
the Focus struck the back of the Escape. The front bumper on the car underrode
the high-riding Escape's rear bumper, which at 25 inches off the ground is the
tallest among all the small SUVs evaluated this time around. Damage to the
Focus came to $5,203 and included replacing most of the sheet metal plus many
parts in front of the engine.
When the Toyota Corolla hit the rear of the Toyota RAV4 in
the car-into-SUV test, damage amounted to nearly $10,000 for the pair -- the
highest combined test damage among all of the vehicle pairs the Institute
evaluated. The RAV4 accounted for about $6,000 of the bill.
"The RAV4's so-called bumper is really just a stamped
piece of sheet metal supporting the bumper cover," says Nolan. "So instead of engaging a strong bumper, the striking Corolla hit the
spare tire mounted on the RAV4's tailgate. The spare isn't designed to absorb
crash energy, so it damaged the Corolla's hood, grille, headlights, air
conditioner, and radiator support and crushed the RAV4's tailgate and rear body
panels."
Compatible bumpers
Bumpers on Honda's CR-V and Civic were the most compatible
in the test in which an SUV strikes the rear of a car, and at $2,995 the pair
had the lowest combined estimated damage in this crash test. The Civic's $1,274
damage was the lowest among the cars. The CR-V is one of only 3 SUVs whose
front bumpers overlapped half of the rear bumpers on the cars they hit.
"The CR-V's front bumper overlapped the Civic's rear
bumper by more than two inches. That may not sound like much, but it's enough
to allow the bumpers to do what they're supposed to do," Nolan says.
When the Kia Forte struck the back of the Hyundai Tucson,
their bumpers matched up well enough to keep the Forte from underriding the
SUV, limiting damage to a combined $3,601 for both vehicles. The Forte's $1,510
repair estimate was the lowest among cars in the car-into-SUV test.
The Tucson-Forte pair's bumpers also did a good job of
lining up in the SUV-into-car test. The Tucson's $850 damage estimate was
better than the other SUVs, and it was the only SUV that didn't have a damaged
air-conditioning condenser.
Despite bumpers that aligned, results for the Forte weren't
as good. The Forte had more than $3,000 rear damage because its bumper broke
during impact. The car's rear body panel also was damaged.
"Of the seven car-SUV pairs we tested, we can't point to a
single one as a model of compatibility because combined damage estimates run
into thousands of dollars for even the best performers," Nolan says.
"In the real world that money comes straight out of consumers' wallets
through deductibles and insurance premiums. Regulating SUV bumpers would ease
the burden."
Regulate SUV bumpers
The institute petitioned the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in July 2008 to regulate bumpers on SUVs and pickups
the same as cars, and require them to match up in a way that shields both
vehicles from costly damage. In June 2009, the agency agreed to seek comments
on the petition but hasn't moved forward with a rulemaking or a low-speed
compliance test for bumpers.
Regulators have long said that requiring light trucks to
have bumpers would compromise off-road maneuverability and make it hard to use
these kinds of vehicles at loading ramps. IIHS counters that very few SUVs and
pickups are used off road.
In addition, bumpers aren't the limiting factor in most vehicles' approach and departure angles. Instead air dams, bumper covers, exhaust pipes, and other trim mounted lower than the bumpers get in the way.
