NHTSA: SUVs not safe enough

CNN/Money ^ | 1/15/03

[colorado tanker]

A few points:

SUV's have high centers of gravity and cannot be driven like BMW's. Like the old Army jeep, they can be "tippy" if put into sharp turns at speed. If you know this and drive sensibly, you're fine.

SUV's are much safer than most other cars, however, in collisions.

A prime reason why there are so many deaths in rollovers is because large numbers of people still refuse to wear seatbelts. If you don't buckle up, in a rollover you will likely be ejected, which often leads to death. Buckling up greatly reduces the risk of death, even in rollovers. Start reading the newspaper stories of these accidents, which usually say if the passengers were buckled and you'll see the pattern.

I'm convinced the irrational hatred of SUV's by some is class envy, the same kind of feelings the nutters in the anti-globization crowd and the unrepentent communists have.

[Semaphore Heathcliffe]

SUVs not safe enough

This doesn't facilitate progress to our stated goal of All Safety, All the Time, Everywhere. We cannot live forever until this goal is reached.

[taxed2death]

I would beg to differ regarding your generalization of pick-up trucks.

I own a Dodge Ram Cummins powered 4X4. The Cummins engine weighs in just shy of 1200 lbs. The front DANA 60 axle weighs a tad over 700 lbs disc to disc. The rear DANA 70 /80 hybrid axle weighs 900 lbs drum to drum. and the cab of the truck is the only one manufactured with a complete double panel sheetmetal roof from door to door (on a regular cab model). The "A" pillars are the only ones made with four (4) layers of sheetmetal. Consequently, these trucks are over 1000 lbs heavier than their Furd or Chebbie counterparts, simularly equipped. I belong to a (northern-redneck type) 4x4 club and have seen many trucks roll over in my days. The Dodge trucks always come out of it with much less damage than the others.

Many of the roll characteristics can be greatly lessened with proper (higher) spring rates. The big three though, are more interested in ride quality over outright cornering performance. Soccer moms demand a smooth car like ride. Handleing characteristics suffer though. You want a land cow with wheels, you got a land cow.

And to quote an early 80's has-been MR. T....."I pity the (unlucky) fool" who makes vehicular contact with my truck. He / she will likely be much worse the wear because of it.

[mewzilla]

Part of the problem with rollover deaths has to do with what happens to the occupants when the SUV rolls. Seatbelts were't designed to protect the occupant in a rollover. Side windows aren't glazed like windshields and heads do go through them. Roofs of some of the bigger SUVs can collapse, crushing the occupants since SUVs don't have to meet the same safety standards passengers cars are required to meet. All things to keep in mind, especially since the older models will continue to be on the road a while yet.

[mewzilla]

Depends on the collision. If you collide with a guardrail or another car, you're more likely to roll in an SUV. And anyway, approx. half of all the MVAs in this country annually are single car MVAs. In single car MVAs, SUVs are more dangerous than passenger cars and even minivans.

[colorado tanker]

If you collide with a guardrail or another car, you're more likely to roll in an SUV. And anyway, approx. half of all the MVAs in this country annually are single car MVAs. In single car MVAs, SUVs are more dangerous than passenger cars and even minivans.

Here is the rebuttal to the attack on SUV's, which is based on selective quotation of statistics.

Are SUVs Really the Dangerous, Gas Guzzling Brutes They're Made out to Be?

A new book titled High And Mighty—The World’s Most Dangerous Vehicles And How They Got To Be That Way points out that SUVs have a higher fatality rate than passenger cars, and it's true. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), for every million SUVs on U.S. roads, there are about 139 fatalities a year. By comparison, for every million passenger cars there are 126 fatalities a year. The most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows there are over 14 million SUVs registered in the U.S. That means there are around 200 additional fatalities a year due to people driving SUVs instead of passenger cars.

However, while no one wants to see even one additional fatality, this number has to be placed in the context of all people killed in traffic accidents. There are about 42,000 people killed in motor vehicle accidents every year in the U.S. So the additional fatalities due to SUVs are a mere fraction of a percent - not good - but not the outrageous carnage the anti-SUV crowd claims.

The book also berates SUVs because they are more prone to roll over than passenger cars in an accident, which is absolutely true. SUVs (and pick-up trucks and full-size vans) sit higher than passenger cars, which raises their center of gravity and makes it easier for them to roll them over in an accident, or in severe driving maneuvers. Indeed, 63 percent of all SUV fatalities are due to rollovers.

But data from NHTSA also show that 66 percent of all those killed in SUVs were not wearing their seatbelts. Just getting SUV drivers and occupants to buckle up would lower the fatality rate of these vehicles to less than those of passenger cars.

[Bon mots]

SUV's dangerous? What we need are nice safe European cars like the Smart.

Remember how they too were flipping over, until the Germans figured out a way to stop them by using "ESP". Now they claim this high speed lawnmower is safe:

American SUVs are dangerous. HAHAHA.
Remember, original Jeeps used to flip over too. That's why the military stopped selling surplus Jeeps after a few years... you could only buy them cut in half.
Put in "ESP" and they will be the safest things on the road.
I have it in my German car, and it's amazing.

[jenny65]

SUV's are much safer than most other cars, however, in collisions.

Yes, but if the people colliding with the SUV are in a smaller car, they stand a lesser chance of surviving than if they collided with another car. By increasing your own chances, you lower the chances of the smaller car occupants' survival.

I'm not arguing against SUVs, I'm just saying it's not only about you.

[colorado tanker]

Yes, but if the people colliding with the SUV are in a smaller car, they stand a lesser chance of surviving than if they collided with another car. By increasing your own chances, you lower the chances of the smaller car occupants' survival.

Good point. There seems to be a solution in the works.

"The higher bumpers on large SUVs can ride over the bumpers of cars, or can ride over the side door beams that protect passengers in side impacts. In an accident, that over ride can be dangerous and even fatal for occupants of passenger cars. Some automakers are equipping their SUVs with an extra steel beam below and behind the bumper to prevent these over rides. In fact, some in the industry have nicknamed them "Bradsher bars." While they usually use that in a derogatory way, Keith Bradsher should rightfully be proud that he helped push the industry into adding this safety feature."

[Dasaji]

Hey Sungirl - the Stones were GREAT! ;)

To add my 2 cents: My husband had done autobody work for almost 20 years before he decided to split the family business and sell cars instead. (No, we don't buy wrecks and repair them, if anybody's wondering...he hasn't picked up a paint gun in 5 years). He's pretty much an expert on cars.

Because he has seen just about every kind of vehicle in every kind of post crash manner (how it was hit, by what, at what speed, under what circumstances, etc.) there are vehicles, that under no circumstances, will he let me and the kids drive around in...SUV's are in that category (except for a Mercedes ML or BMW X5, but who can afford those, even at wholesale :). It is for the very same reasons cited in this article. The center of gravity is too high, the steering and suspension are unstable in an emergency maneuver, and the core supports in the sides are not strong enough to support and protect the back seat passengers in a side-impact crash. I won't even get into the dangers of the Third Seat.

[Sungirl]

Yes....The Stones are always good.....:)

Your opinion seems to stand alone...thanks for your input and for being honest...