Car passengers faring better in crashes with SUVs
May 4, 2005

Cars are doing a better job of protecting occupants in crashes with sport- utility vehicles and pickup trucks, even as light trucks have gotten bigger and heavier, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

In cars that collided with midweight SUVs, the death rate fell 39 percent -- to 42 deaths for each 1 million registered SUVs from 2000 to 2003, compared with 69 deaths for each 1 million registered SUVs a decade earlier. The decline in the death rate was more pronounced in collisions involving heavier SUVs -- to 49 deaths for each 1 million registered SUVs from 86.

Road safety

Some of the latest statistics:

• The death rate for occupants of cars that collided with heavy SUVs fell 43 percent, according to a new study.
  
• Death rates are 59 percent higher for car occupants than SUV occupants in crashes involving the lightest SUVs.
  
• SUVs account for 20 percent of newer registered vehicles, up from 7 percent a decade earlier.
  
• Some 80 percent of drivers now use seat belts, compared with 50 percent in 1990.