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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 10 sepTember 2024
U.S. seeks new pedestrian safety rules aimed at increasingly

massive SUVs and pickup trucks

By TOM KRISHER a regulation that would
AP Auto Writer focus on vehicles made
DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. uniquely for the U.S. market.
government’s road safety Through August, SUVs and
agency wants the auto trucks of all sizes account-
industry to design new ve- ed for almost 79% of new
hicles including increas- vehicles sales in the U.S.,
ingly large SUVs and pickup according to Motorintelli-
trucks so they reduce pe- gence.com.
destrian deaths and inju- Last year, an Insurance In-
ries. stitute for Highway Safety
The National Highway Traf- study found that vehicles
fic Safety Administration with higher, more vertical
said Monday that for the front ends raise risks for pe-
first time it’s proposing a destrians.
new rule setting testing and The research arm of the in-
performance requirements surance industry found that
to minimize the risk of pe- pickups, SUVs and vans
destrian head injuries. with a hood height greater
The rule would cover all than 40 inches are about
passenger vehicles weigh- 45% more likely to cause
ing 10,000 pounds or less, The 2025 model Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric SUV is seen Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, after being unveiled deaths in pedestrian crash-
but it’s is aimed largely at an auto dealership in Savannah, Ga. es than cars and other ve-
at big SUVs and pickups, Associated Press hicles with a hood height of
which have grown in size 30 inches or less and a slop-
and hood height over the The proposed rule, required way deaths, and it’s even out that companies have ing profile.
years, causing blind spots by Congress in the Bipar- worse among vulnerable already developed crash The authors also ques-
for drivers. tisan Infrastructure Law, road users like pedestrians,” avoidance technology to tioned whether wider pillars
NHTSA said pedestrian would set test procedures NHTSA Deputy Administra- make roads safer for pe- holding up roofs of the larg-
deaths increased 57% from to simulate head-to-hood tor Sophie Shulman said in destrians and others. The er vehicles make it harder
2013 to 2022, from 4,779 to impact as well as require- the statement. “This pro- industry has given input to for drivers to spot people
7,522. The agency says the ments to reduce the risk of posed rule will ensure that NHTSA on pedestrian safe- walking near the corners of
rule would save 67 lives per head injuries. Human-like vehicles will be designed ty and will review the pro- vehicles.
year. head dummies that simu- to protect those inside and posal, the alliance said in a Consumer Reports found
Data show that nearly half late children and adults outside from serious injury statement. in 2021 that elevated vehi-
of all pedestrian deaths would be used in testing, or death.” The infrastructure law re- cle hoods also obstructed
when hit by the front of a NHTSA said in a prepared The Alliance for Automo- quired NHTSA to make U.S. driver views of pedestrians
vehicle are most common statement. tive Innovation, a large in- regulations match a global crossing before them.q
for SUVs and trucks. “We have a crisis of road- dustry trade group, pointed pedestrian safety rule, with

A former NYC school food chief is sentenced to 2 years in a

tainted chicken bribery case

By KAREN MATTHEWS NEW YORK (AP) — The for- for New York City public “Eric Goldstein corruptly Goldstein oversaw school
Associated Press mer head of food services schools was sentenced to abused his high-ranking food as head of New York
two years in prison on Mon- position of trust as a public City’s Office of School Sup-
day for a bribery scandal official and pursued lucra- port Services from 2008
that resulted in children be- tive bribes at the expense to 2018. Iler, Twomey and
ing served chicken tenders of school children, many Turley had a company,
contaminated with metal of whom rely on healthy SOMMA Food Group, that
and bone. meals provided by the New contracted with the city to
Eric Goldstein, the former York City Department of provide school food.
school food chief, was sen- Education,” U.S. Around the same time, the
tenced in Brooklyn federal Attorney Breon Peace said three men and Goldstein
court along with three men in a statement. formed another company
who ran a vendor that had Peace said Goldstein “pri- to import grass-fed beef.
contracted with the city to oritized lining his pockets Prosecutors argued that
provide school food Blaine with payoffs from his co- the venture was a way to
Iler, Michael Turley and defendants” to ensure pay Goldstein off.
Brian Twomey. Iler was sen- that the defendants’ food Prosecutors said the largest
tenced to one year and stayed in the schools even bribe payment was made
a $10,000 fine, Turley to 15 after plastic, bones and in the fall of 2016 after the
months and Twomey to 15 metal were found in the city school system had
Eric Goldstein, Chief Executive, Office of School Support Services, months and a $10,000 fine. chicken. stopped serving SOMMA’s
New York City Department of Education, speaks in a discussion
with other school leaders and experts on school nutrition at an All four men were found Messages seeking com- chicken tenders because
event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White guilty of bribery, conspiracy ment were sent to attor- an employee had choked
House complex, May 27, 2014, in Washington, D.C. and other charges after a neys for Goldstein, Iler, Tur- on a bone in a supposedly
Associated Press monthlong trial in 2023. ley and Twomey. boneless chicken tender.q