SUVs now have lower than average rollover death rates. Pickups, and few had ESC by 2008, have a much higher rollover death rate of 21.
There is one area where the burgeoning use of electronics in automobiles provides uncompromised benefits. The growing use of electronic stability control or ESC in sport utility vehicles (SUVs) has drastically reduced rollover accidents – formerly their largest safety problem.
The safety improvements are so large that SUVs drivers are now statistically less likely to die in a crash than drivers of equivalent size cars. This conclusion on driver death rates was published today by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which for decades pointed out that SUVs were among the most dangerous vehicles on the road.
“The rollover risk in SUVs used to outweigh their size/weight advantage, but that’s no longer the case, thanks to ESC,” says Anne McCartt, the Institute’s senior vice president for research.
ESC was first offered in the United States as optional equipment on luxury vehicles beginning in the late 1990s. Among 2002 models, ESC was standard on 28% of cars and 10% of SUVs and wasn’t available on pickups. By the 2008 model year, ESC was standard on 65% of cars, 96% of SUVs, and 11% of pickups.
To be clear, small vehicles of any type remain inherently more dangerous than larger ones. Across vehicle types, size is a huge factor in the IIHS study. All but 3 of the 26 vehicles with the lowest death rates are mid-size or larger, while more than half of those with the highest rates are small vehicles or mini-cars.
IIHS says the overall driver death rate for 2005-08 models during 2006-09 was 48 per million registered vehicle years. Rates for each of the more than 150 vehicles in the study span a large range from 0 for 7 models to 143 for the Nissan 350Z sports car.
Minivans have the best record with a driver death rate of 25. SUVs are close at 28.
Pickups average 52 driver deaths per million registration years. Cars average 56, but smaller cars are worse than bigger ones. For example, 4-door mini-cars have a death rate of 82, compared with 46 for large 4-doors sedans.
Researchers computed driver death rates for all models with at least 100,000 registered vehicle years during 2006-09. (A registered year is 1 vehicle registered for 1 year or 2 vehicles for 6 months each.) Although the vehicles span 2005-08 models, only those equivalent to 2008 models are included. In other words, if a vehicle was completely redesigned for the 2007 model year, the 2005-06 versions weren’t counted.
ESC’s role is evident, according to IIHS, when looking at death rates by crash type. The rate of rollover deaths — 13 per million — is less than half of what it was for 1999-2002 models, and SUVs now have lower than average rollover death rates. Pickups, few of which had ESC by 2008, have a much higher rollover death rate of 21.
Fewer than 22 driver deaths per million registered vehicle years for 2005-08 models during calendar years 2006-09 earned a zero (0) ratings from the IIHS:
- Audi A6 4-door 4WD luxury car – large
- Mercedes E-Class 4-door 4WD luxury car – large
- Toyota Sienna minivan – very large
- Nissan Armada 4WD SUV – large
- Land Rover Range Rover Sport 4WD SUV – large
- Land Rover LR3 4WD SUV – large
- Ford Edge 4WD SUV – midsize
