Studies conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit organization supported by auto insurers, show that SUVs don't do well in accidents.

In fact, the Institute ranked the overall crashworthiness of five SUVs as "poor," three as "marginal," and five as "acceptable." Not one SUV earned the institute's highest ranking of "good."

SUVs performed just as poorly in frontal offset crashes. No SUVs earned the Institute's "good" ranking.

In accidents, SUVs may pose an even greater hazard to smaller cars. With their substantial weight and high bumpers, SUVs miss the crumple zone of the cars they strike; they often smash the passenger compartments instead.

A study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration compared death rates in accidents involving cars and SUVs. In collisions where an SUV struck the driver's side of a car, the car's driver was 30 times more likely to die than the driver of the SUV. Compare this with a similar car-to-car accident -- in these cases, the struck driver was only 6¸ times more likely to die than the striking driver.


Evaluations: Midsize Utility Vehicles*
TOYOTA 4RUNNER
1996-98 Models		   A   G   G   G   G G   A   P   P  
LAND ROVER DISC.
1994-98 Models		   A   A   G   A   G G   A   M   P  
MITSUBISHI
1996-98 Models		   A   A   M   A   G G   G   M   P  
FORD EXPLORER
MERCURY MOUNT.
1995-98 Models		   A   A   P   A   G G   G   P   P  
JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE
1996-98 Models		   M   A   G   G   G P   P   P   P  
NISSAN PATHFINDER
1997-98 Models		   M   P   M   A   G G   G   P   P  
ISUZU RODEO
HONDA PASSPORT 1996-98 Models		   P   P   M   G   G P   P   P   P  
CHEVROLET BLAZER/
GMC JIMMY/
OLDSMOBILE BRAVADA 1995-98 Models		   P   P   P   P   G G   A   P   P  
 
  *Source: IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) (see DEATH RATES)

 

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