Suv Safety

4 Pages 892 Words

The Path to Safety

I drive a 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra. It’s getting quite old and I will soon be looking for a new car. One type of car I want to look at is a Sport Utility Vehicle. I am attracted to the roomy interiors and higher rides that are commonly found in SUVs. Also, my friends and my parents think that they are safer than other cars because they are heavier and ride higher. Safety is a big concern of mine and I have wondered my friends and family are correct. I decided to do some research to answer the question: Are SUVs safer than other cars?
SUV sales have skyrocketed since 1980 at about 250,000 sales per year to now at about three million sales per year. The Ford Explorer was one of the most popular SUVs of the 1990’s and helped boost the craze for SUVs. Currently there are about 73 different models of the popular vehicle and account for 25% of the new car market. An SUV is basically a light or medium truck molded into a new shape because most SUVs are built on truck chassis. Trucks are built to withstand off road terrains so they have a higher ride and more rigid chassis and is why SUVs are higher off the ground. Since most SUVs have a higher ride, they have a higher center of gravity. This makes them more prone to rollover which is one reason that makes SUVs more dangerous than other cars. Rollover deaths increased nearly 10% from 2001 to 2002 which was the largest increase out of any other type of vehicle. SUV rollover accidents account for a small amount of car crashes. Only 3% of accidents are from SUV rollovers but the shocking number is in the deaths. SUV rollovers cause 30% of vehicular deaths.
Furthermore, because of the way SUVs are built, the government classifies them as light trucks or medium trucks. This means they are held to less stringent safety

standards than other passenger cars. SUVs that weigh more than 6,000 pounds are held to weaker standards for side impacts a...