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IIHS names Chevrolet Blazer most likely to kill
click above image to view the entire IIHS Status Report for Driver Deaths
The Chevrolet Blazer (not to be confused with the Trailblazer) continues to statistically be the most deadly vehicle on the road. Looking at statistics from 2002 through 2005, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that drivers of two-door, 2WD Chevy Blazers built from 2001 to 2004 had 232 drive deaths per million registered vehicles. The average number of deaths in the same time period was 79 deaths per million.
In General Motors' defense, spokesman Alan Adler said this in the Associated Press article, "The study doesn't really take into account driver behavior or how the vehicles are used so it's difficult to really draw much significance." Which, coincidentally, is pretty much exactly what he said in 2005, when the Blazer was first named the deadliest vehicle on the road.
But, he's got a point that the IIHS research backs up. The vehicle with the lowest number of deaths per million was the Chevy Astro minivan, with seven deaths per million.
In case you're curious, the second deadliest was the Acura RSX with 202, and third was the Nissan 350Z with 193. On the other end with the Astro was the Infinit G35, BMW 7 Series and Toyota 4Runner.
[Source: The Associated Press]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
LotusEliseBlog.com 11:54AM (4/19/2007)
Oddly enough the top 3 (Blazer, RSX & 350Z) are all cars that I typically associate with younger (18-25 years old) drivers. Not that you only see young people driving them, just that they are popular and pretty accessible with that crowd.
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Peter 12:02PM (4/19/2007)
As a 350Z owner, I am not worried about the car's rating. But then, I am probably older and definately less reckless than the typical Z driver...
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Jeff 12:03PM (4/19/2007)
Take the average driver profile of a 2D 2WD Blazer and overlay those statistics on all vehicle types. It's very possible the culprit is not the vehicle but the type of driver. If young males are the driver type, you will see more serious accidents. Before you flame me, I was a young male about 20 years ago.
Like the GM spokesperson said, the absolute number of fatalities per MM miles does not tell the full story. It's entirely possible the vehicle is a death trap, and it's also possible that it is attractive to people who drive more aggressively and thus has a higher serious accident rate which will lead to more fatalities.
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Guenther 12:01PM (4/19/2007)
Funny, too, that the two vehicles at the opposite end are essentially platform mates to the Blazer and Z. If IIHS precessed its data against age, the results would be far less impressive.
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Mike 12:05PM (4/19/2007)
age, income, past driving records.
you will find younger drivers, low to lower-mid income, with past infractions.
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Aron Trimble 12:09PM (4/19/2007)
Heh... I drive an Integra which is just a smaller and older RSX!
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drstrangegun 12:20PM (4/19/2007)
The vast predominance of Blazers are cheap, relatively lightweight, and have a big engine.
It's a perfect formula to have a teen driver zooming through the backroads towards an intimate engagement with a roadside tree.
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Carlos 12:20PM (4/19/2007)
It makes total sense to figure driver behavior into the safety of a car. The point is, be wary of Trailblazers, and if your kid wants one, be scared.
I'm kind of surprised at the RSX. I know it's driven aggressively, but it doesn't have any scary handling characteristics and it's pretty well built. I thought it would have a high accident but a lower death rate. My girlfriend drives one...
Mike, I disagree on the income thing. I grew up poor in a wealthy neighborhood so maybe I'm just bitter, but it was the rich kids totaling cars over and over again because they knew they'd be getting a replacement real soon.
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MYKELTBROWN 12:31PM (4/19/2007)
I gotta agree with #8. The rich kids always totaled two or three brand new cars and us poor kids were careful as hell with our used beaters.
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Frank 12:34PM (4/19/2007)
I f you do the math you will find out that your chance of death in a 2 dr Blazer (not TRAILblazer) is 0.000232 per vehicle, against 0.000079 for the average vehicle.
I wouldn't lose sleep over this.
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Mike 12:45PM (4/19/2007)
Carlos, I also grew up in a predominantly wealthy area... a $4-6k Blazer isn't even on the rich kids radar.
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The Other Bob 1:35PM (4/19/2007)
I would considering buying one used. It's a great package. A big V-6 than runs forever and you can get it with only 2wd. That's a nice simple vehicle. The interior isn't much to look at, but not too bad if you get one in black.
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hyundaiguy 1:24PM (4/19/2007)
GO figure GM makes another piece of dangerous junk!
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Mike 1:34PM (4/19/2007)
"GO figure GM makes another piece of dangerous junk!"
followed closely by the dangerous junk from Acura and Nissan!
oh, and also the most safe junk as well, go figure...
MORON.
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Gale 2:27PM (4/19/2007)
It's about time they found something negative about owning a 2 door Blazer. Dang!
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Carlos 2:32PM (4/19/2007)
Mike, I didn't say the rich kids died a lot... just crashed a lot, and took more risks. They're more likely to treat their cars as a toy, more likely to be on the phone, more likely to have collision insurance, less scared of the financial impact of a traffic ticket, and more likely to show off their car's abilities to their friends.
But they're more likely to be in safer, better-maintained cars and have better tires.
Interesting: the Vibe has a lot more rollover deaths than the Matrix (29:7). That makes no sense, I don't think they had different options, and stability control wasn't available until 2005, whereas the survey only covers '02-'04 cars.
And my Miata's less likely to get me killed than a Suburban or most pickups. Weird.
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Fred D. 4:13PM (4/19/2007)
These results are so skewed by demographics that it makes the numbers almost useless.
Case in point:
Ford Crown Vic: 45 deaths/mm veh. yrs
Merc Grand Marq: 75 deaths/mm veh. yrs
Same exact car, different demographic, vastly different results
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Brian W 4:58PM (4/19/2007)
All the sports cars had a lot more single car accidents than passenger cars, because they were driving too fast and killed themselves.
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Don 4:51PM (4/19/2007)
Shouldn't this be titled "Most likely to be Killed...because it's driven by an idiot"?
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SGV 5:21PM (4/19/2007)
. . . and then they joke about the Explorer.
http://fomoconews.com/forums/
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