SUV accidents preventable with adjustments
Proving rollover risk
Rollover deaths predictable
The SUV battle
 
SUV Facts

SUVs average two tons - 900 pounds heavier than passenger cars. In head-on collisions and side impact collisions where the SUV hits a passenger car, fatality rates are very high. The SUV carries much more momentum into any accident because of its added weight.

Tread width does not substantially change the likelihood of a rollover accident.

When a car turns tightly and at high speeds, momentum carries it forward and away from the turn. In a right turn, that pressures the front left tire. The rear right tire can be carried off of the road entirely. With SUVs and their higher center of gravity, that momentum and lift can carry over, causing the SUV to continue to pivot and rollover.

Guardrails have been shown to work only with a very stiff design or a very flexible one. In between designs show a poor history of keeping SUVs that are flipping over on the road.

Nearly 10,000 motorists were killed in rollover accidents in 1998. In SUV's nearly 60% of fatalities involved rollover crashes compared with a mere 20% in passenger vehicles. SUVs are three times as likely as passenger vehicles to flip over.

Motorists sense speed in vehicles built lower to the ground. SUVs seem to travel slower since the visual perception is higher on the road. Experts have testified that 60 mph in a passenger vehicle feels similar to 40 mph in an SUV. Due to the peculiarity, SUV drivers can inadvertently take turns too fast.

Tests have shown that roofs of SUVs crush more easily than in passenger vehicles because they are higher. The roofs of SUVs impact the ground roughly instead of rolling through. Motorists are often fatally crushed in SUV rollover crashes.

Studies have shown that a wider track width, improved suspension and side airbags can greatly increase the safety performance of SUVs.