New Study Says Stability Control Mitigates SUV Rollover Risk - While the chances of being killed in a crash are now much less likely than it used to be for people in all types of passenger vehicles, the change has been the most dramatic for occupants of SUVs. In the past, SUVs, which have a high center of gravity, often rolled over, which caused many SUV models to have some of the highest driver death rates. Today, SUV drivers are among the least likely to die in a crash, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) most recent analysis of driver death rates. More information on all types of cars is available at Los Angeles Toyota Dealers. The change is largely due to the widespread availability of electronic stability control (ESC), which helps prevent rollovers. The reduction in SUV rollovers has resulted in SUVs being safer than cars because their larger size and weight offer greater protection in a crash.
Electronic stability control is a technology that improves a vehicle’s stability by detecting and minimizing skids. When ESC detects loss of steering control, it automatically applies the brakes to help keep the vehicle on its intended path. Braking is automatically applied to wheels individually to counter oversteer or understeer. The federal government has issued a safety standard requiring electronic stability control on all new passenger vehicles starting with 2012 models. “The rollover risk in SUVs used to outweigh their size/weight advantage, but that’s no longer the case, thanks to ESC,” said Anne McCartt, the senior vice president for research at the institute.
The IIHS performs this analysis every few years to identify differences in the on-road safety of different kinds of vehicles, and to track changes in the safety of the fleet over time. The previous analysis was in 2007. The latest analysis, which covered the 2005-08 model years and ran from 2006 through 2009, showed an overall death rate of 48 deaths per million registered vehicles. This is compared with 79 deaths per million in the 2007 analysis, a 39 percent decline. Kansas City Used Car Dealers is an invaluable resource for automotive information. The 2007 analysis ran from 2002 through 2005 and covered vehicles from the 2001-04 model years. However, the decline in death rate is most pronounced among drivers of SUVs, with a 57 percent drop, from 65 deaths per million in the 2007 study to just 28 in the new report.
During 2006-09, the overall driver death rate for 2005-08 model was 48 per million registered vehicle years. Death rates for each of the more than 150 vehicles span a huge range. At the low end, seven models had 0 deaths, while there 143 for the Nissan 350Z sports car. Looking at vehicles by class, as might be expected, minvans had the best record, with a driver death rate of 25. SUVs scored second-best with 28. Pickups averaged 52 driver deaths per million registration years, while cars averaged 56, with smaller cars faring worse than large cars. For example, 4-door minicars have a death rate of 82, compared with 46 for very large 4-doors. Weight isn’t the only factor that gives SUVs an advantage – height and other factors come into play. When cars and SUVs of similar weight are compared, the SUVs have lower death rates.
Despite hard evidence linking ESC with the reduction in deaths among SUV drivers, the IIHS is sure that ESC is responsible. The institute’s research demonstrates that ESC cuts the number of fatal single-vehicle crashes by 49 percent. ESC has been shown to reduce the risk of a fatal multiple-vehicle crash by 20 percent for both SUVs and cars. ESC lowers the risk of a deadly crash by 33 percent overall and reduces the risk of a fatal single-vehicle rollover accident by 73 percent. Greensboro Hyundai Dealers has knowledgeable and friendly staff for whatever you are looking for. Another indicator is the fact that the death rate among SUV drivers has dropped much faster than that of car drivers, and this change parallels the increasing use of ESC in SUVs. Design factors can be largely ruled out, because while SUVs have been given lower chassis to make them less prone to rollovers along with carlike unibody frames instead of body-on-frame setups, many body-on-frame vehicles, like the Nissan Armada, Xterra, and Jeep Wrangler have the lowest death rates. At the same time, vehicles with the highest death rates are all pickup trucks and cars.
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