The Nation - News from July 1, 1986

Drivers of Ford Taurus and Mercury Sable sedans face a relatively high risk of serious head injury, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in announcing results of tests on 1986 automobiles. The agency said that in experimental crashes at 35 m.p.h., sensor-equipped dummies in the driver’s seats had head injury scores higher than 1,000, the level above which serious head injury or death can be expected. Robert Munson, automotive safety director at Ford Motor Co., said that the results “should not be used to rate the crashworthiness of these cars in real accident situations.”