VEHICLE SAFETY--A MARKETABLE COMMODITY

This paper explains why vehicle safety is today a marketable commodity. It shows that the myth which says "safety cannot be sold" is being dispelled by a number of things, including the following: detrimental information about the safety performance of particular cars has seriously hurt their sales; many opinion polls and attitude surveys of prospective car purchasers have indicated that safety is an important consideration; the federal government's Car Book, showing safety and damagability-related results of crash tests, is the most requested government publication ever; and the series of ads taken out by General Motors to advertise results obtained concerning small cars by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute. Mention is also made in this paper of the fact that there are several automobile safety features available on cars sold in Europe but not on cars sold in the United States. It is concluded that without these occupant protection features, there is every reason to believe that the present appallingly high rate of passenger car occupant deaths will increase.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Presented at the National Association of Independent Insurers 28th Annual Workshop, Phoenix, Arizona.
• Corporate Authors:

  Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

  1005 North Glebe Road
  Arlington, VA  United States  22201
• Authors:
  • O'Neill, B
• Publication Date: 1982-4

Media Info

• Pagination: 11 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Advertising; Attitudes; Compact automobiles; Consumers; Crash tests; Crashes; Data collection; Markets; Performance tests; Public opinion; Surveys; Testing; Vehicle safety
• Identifier Terms: General Motors Corporation
• Old TRIS Terms: Small car; Test results; Vehicular safety
• Subject Areas: Highways; Research; Society; Vehicles and Equipment; I91: Vehicle Design and Safety;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00371128
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-033 915
• Files: HSL, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Mar 31 1983 12:00AM