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Data on SUV Crashes -Analysis From SUVOA


PHOTO (select to view enlarged photo)
2005 Ford Explorer NHTSA Crash Test

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 -- Children are at least twice as safe in SUVs than passenger cars when properly restrained according to an analysis of a July 2005 study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) performed by SUV Owners of America, the organization announced today. NHTSA is the federal government agency responsible for automobile and highway safety.

SUVOA President Barry McCahill said, "Two times safer means a lot safer, and this is vital information that parents, grandparents and caregivers need to know. Unfortunately, last week it was widely reported that SUVs provide no more crash protection for children than cars -- and that's just not true."

"The NHTSA study documents still again that what you drive has much to do with crash outcome. All else being equal in safety equipment, occupants of a larger vehicle fare better in a crash, which is why an SUV is among the smartest safety choices. They may cost more to operate, but the added expense could be viewed as another form of life insurance," McCahill said.

The comprehensive NHTSA study, "Child Passenger Fatalities and Injuries Based on Restraint Use, Vehicle Type, Seat Position, and Number of Vehicles in the Crash," considered all fatal crashes, as well as injury crashes. In looking at crashes involving both restrained and unrestrained children researchers found that for children in safety seats or safety belts injuries were 21 percent greater for cars than SUVs, and SUVs provide 2 - 2.4 times better protection from fatal injury than cars.

SUVOA believes many parents received an incorrect impression of SUV safety recently. A much smaller scale study published over the holiday period in the journal Pediatrics resulted in national news stories saying children are as safe in passenger cars as SUVs.

But that study was based on a sample of less than one tenth of one percent of all crash-injured children; limited to only 16 states; and no distinction was made between the types of injury reported -- small cuts and brain injuries were considered equal, and the injuries were self-reported by the driver of the vehicle involved.

"The NHTSA study is far more authoritative because it is national in scope and much more extensive. Moreover, it comes from the agency that is the premier source for auto crash data collection and analysis," McCahill added. "Parents should look to the NHTSA findings for the bottom line in which vehicles are safest for their children."

"SUVs are extremely popular for good reason. They provide remarkable utility for families, businesses and recreational enthusiasts. They constantly rank as safety standouts in real world crash performance. Now there is another reason for their popularity -- they are the safest choice for child passengers," McCahill said. (See link to Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) below showing that for almost every year since 1992 SUV occupant death rates (passengers of all ages) have been lower than cars).

McCahill explained that vehicle safety is evolving constantly and automakers should continue to make SUVs and all vehicles even safer, for example by equipping them with electronic stability control (ESC) to help prevent rollover crashes. NHTSA found (in another study) ESC to be 67 percent effective in preventing a rollover from occurring. Because SUVs have a greater tendency to roll over than cars, this, and other design and engineering technologies will further widen the rollover safety gap between SUVs and cars.

"But most highway tragedies are not the vehicle's fault. Adults should make sure children ride in a safety seat or safety belt for older children, and buckle up themselves," McCahill said. "That may sound like staid advice, but it's still your best chance of survival in a crash." NHTSA estimates that 2 out of 3 people killed in rollover crashes were not wearing safety belts and that about 75 percent of those people would be alive today had they buckled up.

In fatal crashes a child in an SUV who rides unrestrained has a fatality risk four times the risk of a restrained child. In other words, child safety seats and safety belts are about 75 percent effective in reducing fatality risk in SUV crashes. Other studies have shown restraint use to have similar effectiveness in all types of vehicles.

"Children should ride with those strong odds in their favor. It's the law in all states to protect child passengers, but regardless its just common sense," McCahill added.

Other key cites from the NHTSA study and SUVOA's analysis of it include:

    Page 3, abstract-16, par. 3:
    *  "In fatal crashes, restrained children in passenger cars were more
       likely to be fatally injured than restrained children in LTVs [light
       trucks and vans]. "

    Section 4.1.1 Restrained Passengers, Age 0 - 3
    *  "In single-vehicle fatal crashes, 20 percent of restrained children in
       passenger cars were fatally injured. This percentage was smaller in
       sport utility vehicles (11%), vans (14%), and pickups (15%). These
       numbers present a clear pattern: the percentage of restrained child
       passengers who were fatally injured was higher in a passenger car than
       in an LTV ... In multi-vehicle fatal crashes, the percentage of
       restrained children in LTVs who were fatally injured ranged from 6
       percent in pickups up to 10 percent in vans, for children up through 3
       years old. This was far less than the 20 percent seen among child
       occupants of passenger cars."

    Similar differences between SUVs and cars in sections:
    *  4.2.1 Restrained Passengers, Age 4 - 7
    *  4.3.1 Restrained Passengers, Age 8 - 15

    SUVOA analysis of the study's data:
    *  In fatal crashes SUVs are 2.4 times safer than passenger cars for
       restrained children age 0-3; 2.0 times safer for children age 4-7; and
       2.2 times safer for children age 8-15.

    SUVOA analysis of the study's data:
    *  In single vehicle crashes [rollovers are in this category] 20 percent
       of restrained children age 0-3 in passenger cars were injured fatally.
       The percentage was 11 percent for SUVs.  In multi-vehicle crashes,
       again 20 percent of restrained children age 0-3 in passenger cars were
       injured fatally.  The percentage was just 7 percent for children riding
       in SUVs.

    Link to NHTSA study:
    http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/Rpts/2005/809784.pdf

    Link to IIHS data:
    http://www.hwysafety.org/research/fatality_facts/occupants.html#sec3

SUV Owners of America is a national non-profit education organization. Mr. McCahill retired from NHTSA in 1996 after nearly twenty years promoting motor vehicle and highway safety, and headed the agency's Office of Public & Consumer Affairs. http://www.suvoa.org