NHTSA to look at rating system for rollover propensity.

The federal automotive safety agency agreed in July to consider creating a uniform standard and rating system to help consumers compare the likelihood of rollovers among different makes of cars, trucks, and sport utility vehicles.

Consumers Union of United States, Inc. (CU), publishers of Consumer Reports, asked the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to propose rules establishing the "emergency handling test."

In 1994, NHTSA issued a proposal requiring passenger vehicles to be labeled with rollover resistance information, but no decision has been made on whether the proposal will become a rule. NHTSA's proposal and CU's petition each deal with determining a vehicle's propensity to roll over, but the groups suggested different types of tests to accomplish the goal.

Although CU found a measure of success in prompting NHTSA to consider uniform standards for rollover testing, the nonprofit consumer organization failed to get the agency to investigate possible manufacturing defects that may have made the 1995 and 1996 models of the Isuzu Trooper and its sister sport utility vehicle, the Acura SLX, more prone to rollovers than others in their class.

NHTSA's denial of CU's defect investigation request led to Isuzu's decision in late July to file a defamation lawsuit against the organization's popular magazine. (Isuzu Motors Ltd. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc., No. 97-5685 RAP (C.D. Cal. filed July 31, 1997).) The suit stems from an August 1996 Consumer Reports article that rated the Trooper and the Acura SLX as "not acceptable" because of their tendency to tip over in sharp-turn or avoidance maneuvers.

Consumers Union said the 1995 and 1996 sport utility vehicles should be recalled, and it asked NHTSA to launch the defect investigation. On July 24, 1997, NHTSA denied CU's petition for an investigation after conducting its own tests on the vehicle. A few days later, Isuzu filed its defamation suit against CU, which had refused to print a retraction about the rating the magazine gave. The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages and asks for a jury trial.

CU said it stands by its decision to issue the "not acceptable" rating and that the tests it used were reliable. Isuzu said CU's methods were unscientific. The automaker said the magazine report caused Trooper sales to drop more than 50 percent in the first six months of 1997 compared with the same period in 1996.