Consumer Perception of Light Truck Safety

Abstract

The popularity of light trucks has increased tremendously since their introduction in the 1970's. Also increasing is the accident rate and injury severity of passengers involved in light truck accidents according to literature dating as far back as 1979. There are several federal requirements which apply to passenger cars that are not in effect for light trucks, primarily overhead and side structural protection. Also, the light trucks, especially the four-wheel drive models, have a greater propensity for rollover accidents due to their higher center of gravity. At issue in a products liability case regarding a light truck accident is whether or not the product meets the consumer's reasonable expectations. To determine what the consumer expectations are for the performance and safety of light trucks, a survey was conducted which addressed the issues of how safe the participants felt a truck was in comparison to other motor vehicles and under a variety of driving conditions. In order to determine how advertising affects this opinion, several 4-wheel drive light truck advertisements from a major manufacturer were shown after the first part of the survey. Three questions followed the videotape and the answers were then compared to see if the opinions changed after viewing the commercials. Results indicate that the survey participants on the average felt that cars and light trucks were equally safe and the commercials had only a slight effect on their opinion. Other findings were that the majority of the participants felt that the 4-wheel drive capability increased the safety of a vehicle.