In a two-vehicle crash with smaller car,occupants of SUV more likely to be killed
06-04-05, 05:01 AM
#1
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
In a two-vehicle crash with smaller car,occupants of SUV more likely to be killed
Saturday, June 4, 2005
Blame drivers, not SUVs, for deadly accidents
Study finds in a two-vehicle crash with a smaller car, the occupants of the SUV are more likely to be killed
By Warren Brown / The Washington Post
WASHINGTON--The story didn't make many front pages. Few corrections ever do, especially if they contradict media biases.
And ``media'' here refers to more than just the traditional lineup of newspapers and evening news programs, takes in more than magazines and newsletters. It includes television cop shows and situation comedies, radio and TV talk shows, and even sermons from the Sunday pulpit.
The truth, according to a report late last month by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, is that sport-utility vehicles are not the marauding, murderous vehicles that many in the media have portrayed them to be.
In fact, the statistical opposite is true. In a two-vehicle crash with a smaller car, the occupants of the SUV are more likely to be killed than are the people in the car, according to the IIHS report, which is based on a study of U.S. highway traffic fatalities during years 2002 and 2003 involving vehicles made from 1999 through 2002.
Seven percent of the people who were killed in those two-vehicle SUV-car crashes died in cars; but 10 percent of the fatalities occurred in the SUVs. One possible reason is that more people tend to ride in the bigger SUVs, thereby putting more of them at risk in a vehicle crash. Another possibility is that SUVs, with their higher centers of gravity, are more prone to tipping and rolling over in a destabilizing event, such as a crash.
Also, many people climbing into SUVs erroneously believe that the large size of their vehicles protects them and, thus, eliminates the need for wearing seat belts. That can be a fatal assumption, especially in a rollover crash, according to the IHHS. The institute does vehicle safety research and testing for the nation's largest auto insurers.
None of this is to suggest that people in subcompact Mini Coopers should go hunting for those in Hummers. Size does matter, and bigger generally has a better chance of winning that match. But SUV-car crashes are statistically few--again, accounting for 7 percent of the deaths in cars and 10 percent of those in SUVs.
Walls, trees, buildings, soft road shoulders and steep embankments are bigger threats, because most U.S. highway traffic fatalities result from single-vehicle crashes--accounting for 42 percent of the car deaths studied by the institute, and 63 percent of the fatalities in SUVs.
``The extra risks posed by the incompatibilities between cars and SUVs are real, but it's important to note that two-vehicle crashes with SUVs aren't the cause of most car occupant deaths,'' Brian O'Neill, IIHS president, said in the report. ``People riding in cars are far more likely to be killed in single-vehicle crashes than in collisions with SUVs.''
Still, government safety officials should press automotive manufacturers to make their trucks and SUVs more compatible with cars and smaller vehicles, and to make all vehicles in general more compatible with pedestrians, according to O'Neill and safety experts in the United States and abroad.
European countries, for example, are pushing car companies to redesign car hoods and engine bays to help reduce the risk of fatal injuries to pedestrians struck by automobiles.
``We need to do whatever we can to minimize the adverse consequences (of SUV-car crashes) for the car occupants; but we should keep this issue of crash incompatibility in perspective and avoid overstating the consequences,'' O'Neill said.
That's good advice; and in the interest of promoting an intelligent, productive discussion of vehicle and traffic safety, the media ought to follow it. They can start by writing more balanced headlines and placing the blame for traffic fatalities where it generally belongs--on the drivers.
Pedestrians, for example, aren't ``Killed by SUV'' any more than they are killed by a car, bus, minivan or pickup truck. Deaths in such instances most often are caused by human error. It's time to start putting the responsibility where it belongs.
Blame drivers, not SUVs, for deadly accidents
Study finds in a two-vehicle crash with a smaller car, the occupants of the SUV are more likely to be killed
By Warren Brown / The Washington Post
WASHINGTON--The story didn't make many front pages. Few corrections ever do, especially if they contradict media biases.
And ``media'' here refers to more than just the traditional lineup of newspapers and evening news programs, takes in more than magazines and newsletters. It includes television cop shows and situation comedies, radio and TV talk shows, and even sermons from the Sunday pulpit.
The truth, according to a report late last month by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, is that sport-utility vehicles are not the marauding, murderous vehicles that many in the media have portrayed them to be.
In fact, the statistical opposite is true. In a two-vehicle crash with a smaller car, the occupants of the SUV are more likely to be killed than are the people in the car, according to the IIHS report, which is based on a study of U.S. highway traffic fatalities during years 2002 and 2003 involving vehicles made from 1999 through 2002.
Seven percent of the people who were killed in those two-vehicle SUV-car crashes died in cars; but 10 percent of the fatalities occurred in the SUVs. One possible reason is that more people tend to ride in the bigger SUVs, thereby putting more of them at risk in a vehicle crash. Another possibility is that SUVs, with their higher centers of gravity, are more prone to tipping and rolling over in a destabilizing event, such as a crash.
Also, many people climbing into SUVs erroneously believe that the large size of their vehicles protects them and, thus, eliminates the need for wearing seat belts. That can be a fatal assumption, especially in a rollover crash, according to the IHHS. The institute does vehicle safety research and testing for the nation's largest auto insurers.
None of this is to suggest that people in subcompact Mini Coopers should go hunting for those in Hummers. Size does matter, and bigger generally has a better chance of winning that match. But SUV-car crashes are statistically few--again, accounting for 7 percent of the deaths in cars and 10 percent of those in SUVs.
Walls, trees, buildings, soft road shoulders and steep embankments are bigger threats, because most U.S. highway traffic fatalities result from single-vehicle crashes--accounting for 42 percent of the car deaths studied by the institute, and 63 percent of the fatalities in SUVs.
``The extra risks posed by the incompatibilities between cars and SUVs are real, but it's important to note that two-vehicle crashes with SUVs aren't the cause of most car occupant deaths,'' Brian O'Neill, IIHS president, said in the report. ``People riding in cars are far more likely to be killed in single-vehicle crashes than in collisions with SUVs.''
Still, government safety officials should press automotive manufacturers to make their trucks and SUVs more compatible with cars and smaller vehicles, and to make all vehicles in general more compatible with pedestrians, according to O'Neill and safety experts in the United States and abroad.
European countries, for example, are pushing car companies to redesign car hoods and engine bays to help reduce the risk of fatal injuries to pedestrians struck by automobiles.
``We need to do whatever we can to minimize the adverse consequences (of SUV-car crashes) for the car occupants; but we should keep this issue of crash incompatibility in perspective and avoid overstating the consequences,'' O'Neill said.
That's good advice; and in the interest of promoting an intelligent, productive discussion of vehicle and traffic safety, the media ought to follow it. They can start by writing more balanced headlines and placing the blame for traffic fatalities where it generally belongs--on the drivers.
Pedestrians, for example, aren't ``Killed by SUV'' any more than they are killed by a car, bus, minivan or pickup truck. Deaths in such instances most often are caused by human error. It's time to start putting the responsibility where it belongs.
06-04-05, 08:11 AM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
I know the author of this article......Warren Brown. He is the weekly auto-writer for the Washington Post, the largest paper in this area. I see and talk to him at local auto shows and take part in his Wednesday on-line auto chats.
He takes home a different new vehicle each week, drives it for a fairly long distance, writes it up, and his column is in each Sunday's Post.
Anyhow...the topic. It is true that not being buckled up will have its consequences in ANY type of vehicle, no matter what its size and weight, and that high-center-of-gravity vehicles are indeed more likely to roll over, but that does not cancel a basic law of physics. All other things equal, a larger, heavier vehicle will sustain less damage in a collision than a smaller, lighter one. In addition, older SUV's, with their higher frame rails and bumpers, had a tendency to penetrate the cabins of low, small cars right at driver and passenger height...with dramatic consequences. (This is being addressed on newer full-size SUV's by lower bumper heights)
However, it is also true (not mentioned in the article) that small cars, particularly sport-oriented small cars and sports cars like the Miata, S-2000, Mini Cooper S, etc... with their excellent steering and handling can avoid some accidents that a Suburban, with the handling and braking of a battleship, would plow straight ahead right into.
He takes home a different new vehicle each week, drives it for a fairly long distance, writes it up, and his column is in each Sunday's Post.
Anyhow...the topic. It is true that not being buckled up will have its consequences in ANY type of vehicle, no matter what its size and weight, and that high-center-of-gravity vehicles are indeed more likely to roll over, but that does not cancel a basic law of physics. All other things equal, a larger, heavier vehicle will sustain less damage in a collision than a smaller, lighter one. In addition, older SUV's, with their higher frame rails and bumpers, had a tendency to penetrate the cabins of low, small cars right at driver and passenger height...with dramatic consequences. (This is being addressed on newer full-size SUV's by lower bumper heights)
However, it is also true (not mentioned in the article) that small cars, particularly sport-oriented small cars and sports cars like the Miata, S-2000, Mini Cooper S, etc... with their excellent steering and handling can avoid some accidents that a Suburban, with the handling and braking of a battleship, would plow straight ahead right into.
06-04-05, 02:10 PM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
There have been numerous studies that show that SUVs are no safer then cars in passenger protection and often times less safe then cars. All the weight in SUV is not from shells protecting occupants but mainly underneath the vehicle where it will not provide passengers any protection like heavy 4WD systems, large heavy driveshafts, transmissions, suspension to handle all the weight, large engines, and having numerous seats and other features. Most large SUV fall under light trucks which means they do not have to adhere to the strict protection standards as passenger cars do. With SUVs even in a low speed collision the SUV with its high center of gravity will more likely loose control and flip and roll over where a car will most likely stay on its wheels. Large SUV usaully can't swerve and avoid accidents without loosing control and crashing where cars especially sporty cars can swerve and maintain control. The poor safety and higher accident occurance is one of the reasons large SUVs cost so much to insure. Most studies show larger cars to offer the most passenger protection with S class Mercedes especially the older model being one of the safest.
Last edited by UDel; 06-04-05 at 02:47 PM.
06-04-05, 02:22 PM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by UDel
There have been numerous studies that show that SUVs are no safer then cars in passenger protection and often times less safe then cars. All the weight in SUV is not from shells protecting occupants but mainly underneath the vehicle where it will not provide passengers any protection like heavy 4WD systems, large heavy driveshafts, transmissions, suspension to handle all the weight, large engines, and having numerous seats and other features. Most studies show larger cars to offer the most passenger protection with S class Mercedes especially the oldest being one of the safest.
Hovever....note what Warren said in the article....and I know the guy. He's pretty honest, even though I don't always agree with him. People riding in large SUV's may be lulled into a sense of complacency and forgetting that seat belt. If you are not buckled up, and bucked up PROPERLY....all bets are off, no matter what you are riding in.
06-04-05, 07:37 PM
#5
Lexus Champion
I always thought people in a car fare better than in a SUV. Sure, the SUV may look intact, but they can't handle G-forces in a collision well. I rather be in a Prius than a H2 or a Suburban in a collision.
off topic, but i think the new Ford F150 will fare better than GM or Dodge's trucks, due to the car-like front end.
off topic, but i think the new Ford F150 will fare better than GM or Dodge's trucks, due to the car-like front end.
06-04-05, 07:53 PM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
Originally Posted by nthach
. I rather be in a Prius than a H2 or a Suburban in a collision.
.
.
I'm sure Toyota and Honda engineers did some crash-testing but I have never been comfortable with this type of design.
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