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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has postponed a ruling on raising roof crush standards until October of this year after being inundated with comments saying that the proposed rules simply aren’t tough enough.

Current rules

The current roof crush rules only require auto manufactures to design a roof that would support 1.5 times the vehicle’s weight. That requirement has not been changed in 35 years and many believe that roof crushes have been responsible for thousands of deaths in rollover situations. The NHTSA’s rules only provide for the minimum requirements. Manufacturers are certainly allowed to go above and beyond that standard. While some do, many do not. Many studies have shown a direct correlation between the strength of a vehicle’s roof and the injuries that result when a vehicle rolls over.

Proposed rules

The NHTSA had proposed that the standard be increased from 1.5 times the vehicle’s weight to 2.5 times. However, the Administration said that it received many comments urging it to increase the standard even more – some have proposed that it be raised to 3.5 times the vehicle’s weight. The NHTSA has said that it will review the comments it has received, go back to the drawing board and reveal a new proposal in October 2008.

Proposed rules have a twist

The NHTSA’s proposed roof crush rules come with a bit of a twist. On top of increasing roof crush standards, the rules would also preempt an injured person, or their family, from suing a manufacturer in state court. The reasoning behind it is that the NHTSA, a federal agency, is ultimately responsible for roof crush standards, so auto manufacturers could not be liable when their roofs crush in an accident.