The Track Record

By Laura Bradford

Sales of light trucks, including SUVs, outpaced sales of cars in recent years

Cars SUVs, crossover vehicles, pickups and minivans

Source: National Automobile Dealers Association

Accident deaths have declined for all vehicles over the past 10 years, but passenger cars as a group are still slightly safer than SUVs . . .

SUVs 16.2 Pickups 16.1 Cars 15.7 Vans/minivans 11.1

Passenger-vehicle occupant-fatality rates per 100,000 vehicles, 1994-2001

** IIHS crash test performance *For 2002 and 2003 model years

. . . mostly because of SUV rollovers . . . Percentage of occupant fatalities involving a rollover in vehicles of each type, 2001

Passenger cars 15.7% Vans and minivans 19.2% Pickups 25.1% SUVs 35.2% . . . and passenger cars pose less risk than SUVs to other cars in collisions

Cars

Mini 39 Subcompact 41 Compact 60 Midsize 85 Large 77

SUVs

Small and midsize 151 Large 205

Death rate in second car when struck by a vehicle of each type. Rates per 100,000 collisions, 1995-2001

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH FOR

1 Center of Gravity

Center for typical sedan

Center for SUV is higher

A low-riding car with a wide space between the tires is hard to unseat

A high-riding truck with wheels spaced relatively narrowly is more likely to tip over

2 Guardrails

Traffic-safety features such as guardrails and curbs, meant to keep cars on the road, tend to "trip" a tall SUV, causing it to flip over. Even changes in a paved surface, as when one wheel strays onto a gravel shoulder, can cause some SUVs to lose their balance

3 Frame

Until recently, most SUVs were built using a truck undercarriage bolted to a tall passenger-vehicle compartment. Such body-on-frame construction is cheaper but may separate in a crash, exposing the vehicle's occupants to harm

4 Brakes

Until 2003, federal regulations provided more lenient brake standards for SUVs, so some came equipped with cheaper drum brakes that had longer stopping distances and could overheat

5 Bumpers

In a collision, a high riding SUV can plow over the hood or door sill of a smaller car and crush the passenger compartment. Several new SUVs incorporate safety bars or design features to prevent such incidents

Which SUVs lead the tests?*

SAFEST Achieved a "good" rating in crash tests** and rated as resistant to rollover

Risk of rollover in a single-vehicle crash

Acura MDX 10% to 20% Ford Explorer 4WD, 4dr 20% to 30% Honda CR-V 20% to 30% Lexus RX 300 20% to 30% Subaru Forester 20% to 30%

LEAST SAFE Scored "poor" or "marginal" in crash tests and rated as more likely to roll over

Risk of rollover in a single-vehicle crash

Chevrolet Blazer 2WD Over 40% Chevrolet Blazer 4WD 30% to 40% Jeep Liberty 30% to 40% Jeep Grand Cherokee 30% to 40% Nissan Pathfinder 2WD, 4dr 30% to 40%

Sources: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), EPA Green Vehicle Guide 2003

FEWEST EMISSIONS MOST EMISSIONS At least 7 out of 10 on EPA clean-air scale

Acura MDX Honda CR-V Honda Element Volvo XC 70

MOST EMISSIONS 0 out of 10 on EPA scale

Cadillac Escalade Chevrolet Suburban Chevrolet Avalanche Chevrolet Tahoe GMC Yukon Lexus LX 470 Land Rover Range Rover Lincoln Navigator Mercedes-Benz ML55 AMG Toyota Land Cruiser Toyota Sequoia