I will try in my few minutes this afternoon to give you a consumer view on the general topic of rollover and stability control. Our perspective is based on 64 years of testing and evaluating consumer products and services, (from cars and washing machines to banking services, auto insurance, and life insurance) and from fielding thousands of questions and comments from our readers each year.

First, I would like to take a few moments to describe where we are coming from-and I don't mean Yonkers, NY or Colchester, CT.

Forget about stability control systems for a moment and imagine that you and your partner are remodeling your kitchen. Assume that today is Saturday, and you are going shopping for appliances. And furthermore, that you don't have any special knowledge about those appliances.

Will you choose the most advertised brand? Will you buy what the salesperson advises? Will you buy the cheapest, or the most expensive? I can tell you now, those strategies are little more than guesses and hopes.

Today's marketplace is filled with a dizzying array of choices. Consumers who seek value and quality, and who attempt to make a rational selection from among the hundreds of choices for, say, a refrigerator or a microwave oven, have precious little in the way of information they feel they can trust to be thorough and objective. Amidst the barrage of advertising hype and claims by sales staff, consumers want and need useful advice that puts their interests first and foremost.

Heading into the new Millennium, it is clear that while the products we test will change with the market's technological advancements, our core mission-Test, Inform, Protect-will remain steadfast. We will continue to provide consumers with practical advice they can use when it comes to shopping for quality, value, and safety in their everyday lives-and not just when they are buying products in the store or at the supermarket, but also on the Internet.

And at the same time, we are also providing manufacturers and retailers with a consumer yardstick for comparing their products and services with those of their competitors.

When you think about it, Consumer Reports and its comparative product information is a natural and vital component of a free market. The ultimate success of our system-that is, success for both seller and consumer-depends on consumers being fully informed when making their purchase; that is, consumers who have access to what economists call "perfect" information and who know how to use that information.

Consumers Union serves as a major source and conduit for that much-needed information, helping put consumers on a more level playing field with manufacturers and retailers. We test products using methods that reflect how we believe consumers will use them, and we offer objective, unbiased test results about those aspects of product quality that consumers don't have the ability or opportunity to judge for themselves.

DESCRIPTION OF CU

In order to provide these judgments, we require state-of-the-art laboratories, which we have in Yonkers, NY. Here, Consumer Reports has 50 different test laboratories, including eight environmental chambers, a very-low-frequency anechoic chamber for testing audio products, an extensive food sensory laboratory, and a modern video lab capable of generating the complex signals needed for evaluating today's TVs, VCRs, and camcorders. We also have a fantastic auto test facility, with its own track, located on 327 acres in East Haddam, CT where we test new cars, minivans, pickup trucks, SUVs, tires and many after-market auto products.

INDEPENDENCE

At the heart of our work is our complete independence from the manufacturers and sellers of products and services. After 64 years, Consumer Reports still does not accept any outside advertising nor any gifts or grants from commercial entities. The same is true of our other publications. Consumers need objective, unbiased advice, and they can be assured that our information is free from any influence or control by manufacturers, distributors, or retailers. Rather than accept outside advertising revenues from sellers, which no doubt could have been substantial, the support for our work has always come from the consumer-our only client. Acceptance and trust by consumers to purchase and use this information is how we keep going.

Our primary focus is on the relevance and the quality of our testing-and not on any particular results. We are organized to do our work in such a way that we literally do not care which product does the best or the worst. We simply have no stake in the outcome, financial or otherwise. And since we do not have a vested interest in any company or product, our independence allows us the unique luxury to wish out loud for better value, and to be critical where we think consumers are being shortchanged or put at risk unnecessarily. We think this role is as much a part of our job as providing comparative test ratings. In my opinion, both industry and consumers benefit from this approach.

Another element contributing to our independence is that we do not accept product samples from any manufacturer, free or otherwise. We buy all our test samples, including automobiles, on the open market with cash or credit card, just as a consumer would. And we are becoming avid shoppers over the Internet, both to be faster and more efficient in our work, and to experience what you experience as consumers.

When our shoppers are at the checkout counter, their purchases are not quite as ordinary as the average consumer's, which often leads to an amusing exchange between shopper and cashier. Imagine yourself checking out with 20 pounds of different coffees, or 10 dozen condoms, or 13 bathroom scales. (People do look at you funny.) But their hard work pays off in fulfilling the rigorous sampling designs required for many of our product reports.

By the way, based on our tests of nearly 5,000 alkaline batteries, we offer the consumer this general advice: Buy by price. The one exception: digital and automated flash cameras are best served by the Duracell Ultra battery.

Sometimes, we have to go to extraordinary lengths to complete our sampling of products found around the country. When CU tested condoms, one aspect was to see how those condoms distributed publicly, that is, through clinics and vending machines, stacked up against those purchased at pharmacies. The shopper in charge of this project had to gather more than 20,000 condoms. But when it came time to finding condoms sold in vending machines, the only places he could find them were nightclubs. He spent many an hour self-consciously feeding coins into the machines located in various nightclub men's rooms. In the end, he was successful in getting the range of samples we needed. As you may have read in our published report, vending machine-condoms did just fine in our tests.

We buy around 40 cars, trucks, minivans, and SUVs per year-again with cash on the open market.

As you can see, because of our constant vigil to remain independent, there should never be any question regarding even the possibility of bias for or against a particular manufacturer or brand name. We make every effort we can to eliminate even the slightest chance that bias or favoritism could creep into our work.

TESTING AT CU

An important word about those test protocols. Much of what we do is taken directly from standard industry tests, but very often we create our own test procedures, where we believe they are warranted. Our test procedures have indeed influenced industry standards-and are not a secret to any manufacturer whose products we test.

Our primary goal is to provide information that is pertinent to the consumer's needs. Our test programs are designed to incorporate our knowledge of what the consumer is likely to do with the product, as well as what the manufacturer advises the consumer to do. Sometimes the two are quite different.

In general, comparative testing does not yield the same information as compliance and quality control tests. They are vastly different approaches, serving distinctly different needs. Testing to meet a commercial standard of acceptance, for example, is a business requirement for manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Comparative testing to determine which products in a group offer the best performance and/or the best value to the consumer is a requirement for us. Sometimes the two overlap. Often they don't.

BENEFITS FOR CONSUMERS AND MANUFACTURERS

There may be some folks who believe that Consumers Union is anti-business. We would firmly disagree, as we consider fairness to business an important requirement of our work. But we also acknowledge that we are fiercely pro-consumer, and dedicated to applying the best of technology and research to strengthen the consumer's position in the marketplace. We look for ways that products generally could be improved, and sometimes urge that the acceptance bar within industry standards be raised. To that end, several of our staff serve on industry voluntary standards committees, presenting a consumer perspective in the development process.

We do call it like we see it, regardless of the outcome. When a product performs outstandingly well, we let consumers and the public know that. And when a product performs in a Not Acceptable manner, we waste no time thoroughly researching the implications of that performance and making that news public-always making sure that you, the consumer, are the first to hear, as you are our client.

In summary, when it comes down to it, when the consumer is able to reliably know product performance when he or she is making a choice, competition is keener and fairer for both consumers and manufacturers. Products and services become safer, more reliable, and of greater value. And that was our goal to begin with-A marketplace filled with products and services that are all reasonably safe, and that offer in a clear manner a range of quality choices to be selected by the consumer. In the end, consumers should be able to choose what they want-and get what they choose.

ROLLOVER AND STABILITY CONTROL

Now that I have sketched CU's background, you have a context for interpreting our published test findings and recommendations. For us, evaluating product safety is one of our highest priorities. As with many risks, the level of safety offered by a particular product is generally hidden from the consumer's untrained eye. Moreover, most consumers do not have the training or time or inclination to make such evaluations on their own. Many even think that a product wouldn't be on the market in the first place if there was something wrong or unsafe about it.

For example, no consumer standing in the showroom can discern which model has ABS simply by looking at the car. Indeed, few consumers standing the showroom-based on what they see in showroom-can decide they even want ABS. A consumer's interest in ABS is more the result of intense public education and advertising, and advice from trusted advisers like neighbors, friends, and yes, Consumer Reports.

Rather than focusing on hidden safety features used primarily for rare events, consumers will focus more on the things that are observable, and affect their pleasure and personal experiences with the vehicle on a daily basis-like color, comfort, convenience, and what kind of stereo system they want.

But as you know, and we know, things are changing. The safety of vehicles has risen in the last few years to be one of the most important attributes in the consumer's decision. At CU we receive far more questions today than we did, say, 10 or 15 years ago, asking which models are the safest, or "how do I get a really safe car"? So while many consumers cannot themselves determine the safety of their choices, they do expect and demand safer models for themselves and their families.

That is why the subject of this seminar is so important to everyone. It gets away from finding whom to blame for a rollover accident, and instead seeks to prevent rollovers at the start. Blame game dynamics solves very little.

This safety problem crept up on us all. Sales have increased from only a small number of SUVs in the 60's to the hundreds of thousands now sold annually. Many of the early users were farmers and public utility and construction workers. These drivers generally understood the vehicles and, more importantly, their limitations.

Today's SUVs have virtually replaced the family station wagon. They are everywhere and in large numbers, whether in shopping malls or parked adjacent to little league ball fields. And they are now being used by more people who have less knowledge of how differently these vehicles handle.

Moreover, since the sales boom in the 90's, older models will move into the second-hand market where drivers are younger and less skilled, possibly making them a greater hazard in rollover and other multi-vehicle accidents.

In our tests, the early SUVs were slow and cumbersome to handle. Nowadays, our test vehicles are every bit as fast as cars, and their handling is quick and nimble. This can lead drivers into a false sense of security, where they may find themselves driving too fast for the vehicle's ability to avoid an obstacle safely. Rollover fatalities are on the increase, and we worry that it has not peaked yet.

We are also aware of many after-market tire and rim combinations that could adversely affect the handling of an SUV. Although we have not tested these products, we are concerned that these after-market tires can generate higher lateral forces that exceed the vehicle's design limits, thus causing the vehicle to be less stable in emergency situations. A recent RMA bulletin specifically warns after-market dealers about this issue.

Of course, the owner's manuals in many SUVs specifically warn the owner of the need to fit only OE tire size and construction. But what's in the owner's manuals is often among the world's best-kept secrets.

Modern technology can indeed improve the safety of SUVs, and we would like to see a more widespread use of stability control systems. Likewise, active handling systems can also help by reducing the body roll. The introduction of side airbag curtains to help prevent head impacts and ejection during a rollover incident is also a welcome development, but only as a Band-Aid for the rollover issue.

Our auto test engineers believe that to make future SUVs and Crossover vehicles safer for the average consumer to drive, several actions are warranted: 1) a greater emphasis on improving the suspension systems, 2) more effort to lower the center of gravity, and 3) wider use of stability control systems. We have evaluated several vehicles with stability control systems, and in our opinion, their performance in our avoidance maneuver tests was quite impressive. In one case, we were able to switch the system ON and OFF, and noted that performance with the system ON was noticeably improved.

In the end, reducing death and serious injury from rollover will be achieved best by improving the product-rather than warning the consumer to alter his or her behavior to accommodate to a dangerous design. Labels don't help much when you are confronted by a sudden emergency. Fortunately, because of your efforts, the remedies available to manufacturers are technologically and economically feasible.

We greatly appreciate SAE's hosting this seminar and identifying rollover as a serious safety issue-something not on the agenda just a few years ago.

I thank you for your attention.

 
Check out the following release: Consumers Union Pleased That NHTSA Has Proposed Help For Consumers On Vehicle Rollover Problem (5/25/00)

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