Today’s drivers face a complex set of dangers, many of which could be prevented by better testing, more stringent federal safety standards or better oversight of regulations already in place.

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), fatalities from rollover crashes involving sports utility vehicles (SUVs) jumped 6.8% in 2003 (the most recent data), from 2,471 fatalities in 2002 to 2,639 in 2003.

In total, there were 67,000 people injured in SUV rollover crashes in 2003, compared with 58,000 in 2002, an increase of 16%. Of the 4,031 fatalities from SUV crashes of all types in 2003, 59% occurred from rollovers.

“Even more troubling, in single-vehicle crashes involving SUVs, 75% of the crashes were due to rollovers. These figures are alarming, in that fatalities from rollovers in all types of vehicles declined 3.3% during the same period,” said Mike Davis, whose practice includes injury and death claims from vehicular accidents of all kinds.

WORKHORSE TURNED KIDDIE CAR

SUVs were originally designed to be work vehicles. Most are still built using a truck chassis and have not been re-designed comprehensively to serve safely as passenger vehicles.

In a crash, the high bumper, stiff frame and steel-panel construction of SUVs can override crash protections of other vehicles, making SUVs dangerous for other motorists in two-vehicle crashes.

“In side-impact crashes, SUVs kill three sedan drivers for every one SUV driver 4 who is killed. But SUVs can also be dangerous for their own occupants. The vehicles’ high profile and narrow track width makes them very rollover prone,” Davis said.

In spite of the NHTSA statistics, SUVs are the second most popular choice of vehicle for transporting children in the USA, behind minivans, according to a 2003 study by Public Citizen.

“Despite the largely illusory benefits of SUVs, they are approaching icon status on the American highway. SUVs and light trucks now account for nearly half of all new car sales,” the study states.

A U.S. Census Bureau report released in late 2004 showed that SUV registrations in Texas nearly doubled from 1997 to 2002. The 97% rise in Texas SUVs was higher than the 56% rise in the large vehicles across the United States. As of 2002, Texas had 1.8 million registered SUVs.

POLITICAL FOOTBALL

In 2004, the NHTSA made rollover reduction a priority and in August announced its 2004 ratings for certain vehicles. See the chart to the left for results of those tests for SUVs.

“Providing consumer information is important, but the only sure way to significantly decrease SUV rollovers is to require rollover stability standards for every class of vehicle,” said Davis.

“Because the typical SUV also has a weak roof and poor crash protection, the combination of hazards places SUV occupants at a high risk of death or paralysis in a rollover. Until the feds mandate tough standards, auto manufacturers will continue to drag their feet. Remember, they’re the ones who fought the requirements for seat belts and air bags,” Davis said.

NHTSA ROLLOVER RATINGS FOR SUVs

For a complete list of the best and worst of the August 2004 rollover ratings by the NHTSA, see www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ncap/RollRatings.cfm.

Sources for this article: National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, Public Citizen, U.S. Census Bureau, Houston Chronicle