SUV blind spots can be deadly
Date: 2005/01/30 Sunday Page: 005 Section:
ACCENT Edition: FINAL Size: 1180 words

WHEEL WOMAN

By ANN M. JOB
FOR THE STAR-LEDGER

THE COLD, BLUSTERY weather in Washington, D.C., last week didn't stop a Kansas mother from visiting lawmakers.

Janette Fennell is on a mission. She wants the federal agency that's charged with overseeing automotive safety to gather and tally police reports that detail deaths and injuries occurring when vehicles back over people, especially children.

Right now, Fennell, of Leawood, Kan., and the grassroots group called Kids and Cars that she founded are the only ones collecting this data on a nationwide basis, and she figures this is one way to draw attention to a growing auto safety problem.

Her data indicate that so-called back-over accidents - in which a driver backs over a person - are up to about one death a day, or 300 to 400 fatalities a year in the United States.

And Fennell believes that, unless safety regulators at the National Highway Safety Administration in Washington start to focus on this issue, there won't be an interest in addressing it.

Worse, Fennell fears that - as more of us drive taller vehicles such as sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, vans and crossovers, which can have large blind spots - we will remain ignorant of the dangers these vehicles pose to others, particularly children.

Since 1999, NHTSA officials have been working to tally so-called "nontraffic" deaths, such as back- overs and heat-related fatalities. But because NHTSA's numbers come from death certificates, not police reports, it's a time-consuming process. For example, the numbers for 2000 are just being finalized, said agency spokesman Rae Tyson.


A woman driven
Fennell's name may be familiar. She's the woman who doggedly pushed for handle-like releases to be installed inside car trunks in the last decade, so anyone who gets trapped in a trunk has a way to get out.

These victims include children who play around cars, as well as adults who are put into car trunks by criminals.

Fennell was intensely interested because she and her husband were locked in the trunk of their car during a crime. They clawed and worked their way out, desperate to find out what had happened to their toddler son, who had been separated from them. Thankfully, the boy was unhurt, but Fennell never forgot the feelings of powerlessness and trauma that she experienced while lying in the trunk.

She started to collect data about how often people are locked into trunks, discovered that a majority are children and started her efforts to make trunk releases mandatory equipment.

Today, the releases are required in every new car sold in the United States. They're frequently right by the trunk latch, made of a glow-in-the-dark plastic.

Now, Fennell has turned her attention to what she sees as the growing problem of people not being seen when today's taller vehicles back up.


Spotty data gathering
Fennell has learned that the gathering of reports about deaths and injuries surrounding back-overs is spotty at best. For example, that 42,000-fatality figure that we all hear about in news reports as the annual traffic death count in the United States the last few years typically does not include back-over fatalities.

This count is released by NHTSA, which pulls together fatalities from states, but it includes only deaths that fit a certain criteria. The deaths, for instance, have to come within 30 days of the incident. A person who dies on the 31st day isn't included, Fennell said.
In addition, deaths that occur in traffic accidents on private property, such as driveways, aren't included. The NHTSA annual traffic fatality count only tallies deaths that happen on public roads.

As you might guess, though, many of the back-over deaths happen in driveways and parking lots, places where vehicles regularly are put into reverse by drivers. A tragic part of this story is that "in 60 to 70 percent of the cases, it's either a parent or a close relative" who is at the wheel, Fennell said. And her data show that most back- over victims are between the ages of 1 year and 23 months old.

Often, the story goes something like this: The family is home. Dad decides to go pick up some groceries or run an errand and goes out the door. In a flash and unobserved, the little tike follows - sometimes it's the first time that anyone in the family recalls the youngster being able to open the door on his or her own. In any event, the child hovers nearby, thinking that Dad sees him or her by the vehicle. In the meantime, Dad is unaware the youngster is in the blind spot.


Starting over
Fennell pushed for language in last year's large U.S. transportation bill that would have required NHTSA to track these incidents. But it didn't get through the process.

So, Fennell is starting again, visiting lawmakers in Washington and collecting more reports. For example, during last week's stop at the office of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), she learned of another 10 back-over incidents in that state. "I'm collecting as much data as I can and seeing just a huge problem," she said. "It's just so underreported."

Fennell admits that even traditional cars have blind spots behind them. They are areas right behind the car where a driver making good use of the rearview and side mirrors can't quite see everything.

But a Consumer Reports study showed the blind spot behind a large, tall vehicle like the Chevrolet Avalanche can extend as much as 51 feet if the driver is 5-foot-1. For an average driver who's 5-foot-8, the Avalanche's blind spot can be 30 feet.

The problem is larger in vehicles like the Avalanche, and in SUVs and vans, because the top edge of the tailgates and liftgates typically sits high, as do the vehicles. This means that children and short adults and anything not tall enough to be visible in the rear window glass might be run over as the vehicle is backing up.


Technology can help
Fennell drives a Lexus RX crossover that sits higher on the road than a traditional car does. But she had a backup camera, as well as rear sensors, installed to help her be aware of what's behind her. She also advocates that every driver walk around his or her vehicle before starting to back up and that children in the area be made to stand away from the car, in a place visible to the driver.

An estimated 20 percent of new vehicles today are sold with available or standard backup aides such as sensors and cameras. Many are on upscale and luxury models such as the Infiniti FX SUVs, but they're also offered on minivans such as the Toyota Sienna and Honda Odyssey.

Even if they're not offered as a factory or dealer option, they often can be added by after-market firms, which is how Fennell got the equipment on her RX. Prices range from a few hundred dollars to more than $5,000 if they are part of an automaker option package.

* Next week: Kia's affordable Sportage SUV is back.

PHOTO CAPTION: 1. The 2005 Lexus RX330 can be outfitted with a backup camera whose images are displayed on a dashboard screen. CREDIT: 1.