SUV and Car Safety Think you're safer in that SUV? Here are some figures and statistics showing you you're not. Also, there is some information on the environmental ramifications of driving them, the political ramifications, and some info on who drives them and why.

Source: "Sport Utility Vehicles"

Source: http://www.safecarguide.com/exp/safety/idx.htm

Source: Oak Ridge National Lab, "An Analysis of the Impact of Sport Utility Vehicles in the United States" Also available here, page 30 (Fatality Rate is defined as number of fatailties per 100 registered vehicles)

Source: USDOT and NHTSA (page 33 of this document)

The following chart is from an IIHS News Release dated 2-10-98.  The left-most column gives the weight class of the vehicles in the first column of each pair (that is, " cars,", "pick-ups," & "SUVs").  Columns 1, 3, and 5 show the death rates (per million vehicles per year) for cars, pick-ups, and SUVs of different weights; columns 2, 4 and 6 show the death rates for the occupants of the other vehicle in the two-car collision.

Occupant death rates in two-vehicle crashes, 1990-95 model passenger vehicles versus other vehicles ( deaths per million vehicles per year)
Weight Class (lbs)		Vehicle crash pairs 1990-1995
		Cars		Pick-ups		SUVs
		Cars	Other	Pick-ups	Other	SUVs	Other
	less than 2500	109	35			105	58
	2500-2999	83	43	89	88	54	75
	3000-3499	60	48	56	116	53	75
	3500-3999	53	57	52	115	37	92
	4000-4499	49	58	44	144	29	91
	4500-4999			45	169	29	110
	5000 +			38	181	25	112

(Of note, occupants of the lightest cars have dramatically higher death rates.  Also, most significantly from a safety point of view, heavy pickups and SUVs are associated with far higher death rates in the OTHER vehicle than in themselves, or than death rates caused by comparably heavy cars. )

SUV-to-car collisions are six times more likely to kill the occupants of the smaller vehicle when compared to a normal car-to-car collision.  You may be safer inside an SUV, but you're at greater risk of killing others in the event of an accident. 

Source: http://www.safecarguide.com/exp/safety/idx.htm

Passenger cars experience the greatest risk in frontal and side impact. For every driver fatality in a full-size van striking a car from the front, there are six driver fatalities in the passenger car. For every driver fatality in a full-size pickup, there are 6.2 driver fatalities in the car. The problem is much worse for side crashes. The higher frame rails of a pickup truck or SUV may override the rails of a passenger car, resulting in greater intrusion. Likewise, the higher engine compartment poses a risk for passenger car occupants. When a pickup truck strikes the side of a passenger car, there are 26 fatalities among passenger car drivers for every driver fatality in the pickup. When a SUV strikes a passenger car, there are 16 driver fatalities in the passenger car for every driver fatality in the SUV.

Source: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/hot/FinalSUVStatement.html