Maverick--
Your point is well taken; there is no doubt that SUVs are more likely to roll than lower center of gravity cars. Your source, however, has no credibility. Isn't Dateline the show that demonstrated how explosive a vehicle was several years ago by lighting small explosives under the car? (I may be wrong about this, but I'm sure someone will tell me.) Anyway, on the bottom of your linked page is a link to the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, and there you can find this page:
hwysafety.org
Following that link you get to the following chart:
DEATHS PER MILLION PASSENGER VEHICLES
1-3 YEARS OLD, 1999
Vehicle Size Rate
Car--mini 249
Car--small 161
Car--midsize 127
Car--large 112
Car--very large 133
Pickup--4WD, 3,000-3,999 lbs. 199
Pickup--4WD, 4,000-4,999 lbs. 147
Pickup--4WD, >= 5,000 lbs. 117
Utility vehicle--4WD, < 3,000 lbs. 184
Utility vehicle--4WD, 3,000-3,999 lbs. 113
Utility vehicle--4WD, 4,000-4,999 lbs. 136
Utility vehicle--4WD, >= 5,000 lbs. 90
NOTE: There are no 4WD pickups < 3,000 lbs.
You will see a definite trend the demonstrates that SUVs are safer than Pickups which are safer than passenger cars, and that within each category bigger is safer than smaller. The dishonesty in the Dateline story is the theory that it's worse to be dead after a rollover than it is to be dead after a different type of accident. I don't buy it. The number to go by is what is in the IIHS chart: deaths per million miles driven. My family in our Suburban is 276% (249/90) safer than we would be in a minicar, in terms of not getting killed in any type of accident. By driving sanely and taking proper care of your tires, it's entirely possible to avoid a rollover. There is no way that a minicar car will protect you in a head on collision like a more massive car would. I'm not surprised that a scandalsheet like Dateline would further inflame the antiSUV hysteria. I'm surprised that you got sucked in to the safety issue. I respect your opinion concerning the SUVs increased consumption of petroleum and increased emissions, even though I do not agree with you. The safety issue just does not hold up to analysis. |
