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Government study questions safety of SUVs
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mid-size sport utility vehicles are nine times as likely as passenger cars to be involved in fatal rollover crashes and twice as likely to kill the occupants of other vehicles in crashes, a government study says. The study, released Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, examined fatality data from 1995 to 2000 to determine the effects of vehicle weight. It found large passenger cars, such as the Lincoln Town Car, and minivans had the lowest fatality rates of all vehicle types. Only vehicles manufactured between 1991 and 1999 were considered. The study found that the fatality rate for SUVs and passenger cars of similar weight was essentially the same in non-rollover crashes. But death rates rose significantly for SUV occupants in rollover crashes. "This once again debunks the overall safety claim that mid-size SUVs are in fact safer than a passenger car," said Sean Kane of the safety research firm Strategic Safety. Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Washington-based Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said rollovers represent only 2.5 percent of all crashes. He added that many SUV rollover deaths could be prevented if the occupants were wearing seat belts. In general, NHTSA found vehicles that weighed less were less safe. Among small passenger cars such as the Toyota Corolla, there was a 4.4 percent increase -- or an estimated 597 deaths per year -- in the risk of a fatality for every 100-pound reduction in the vehicle's weight. There was a 3 percent increase in fatality risk, or 234 deaths per year, for every 100-pound reduction in mid-size SUVs and light trucks such as the Ford Explorer. Vehicle weightAmong the heaviest vehicles, such as the Dodge Durango, there was little difference when weight was reduced by 100 pounds. Occupants were killed more often in single-vehicle crashes because of increased rollovers or less protection, but those were offset by the smaller numbers of people killed when they were struck by the heavier vehicles. Shosteck said the study reaffirms automakers' position that reducing vehicle weight is unsafe. Automakers have used that argument to fight mandated increases in fuel efficiency. But Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, said better design -- not more weight -- makes vehicles safer. Public Citizen said NHTSA's analysis is flawed because it downgrades the safety benefits of some vehicles by lumping them in with those that are 100 pounds lighter. "NHTSA fails to take into account that decades of engineering studies show that increasing the weight of large vehicles is bad for overall highway safety because it increases the disparity in weight between vehicles on the road," said Joan Claybrook, the head of Public Citizen and a former administrator of NHTSA. NHTSA notes in the study that it doesn't take into account "a new generation of more stable, less aggressive" light trucks that have hit the road since 1999. Several experts said NHTSA's new study is far more complete than one the agency put out on the same topic in 1997. "Hopefully it will put to rest the idea that small, lightweight vehicles can be made just as safe as large, heavier vehicles," said Adrian Lund, chief operating officer of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, an auto safety group financed by insurers. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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