According to a new National Highway Traffic Safety Administration brief, SUVs are getting smarter about turning turtle. By its count, around seven out of every ten SUVs contain electronic stability control programs, reducing the likelihood of rollovers. In fact, nearly 70 percent of 2006 model year SUVs have it as standard fit-an impressive leap over last year's 43 percent. In fact, this bit of silicon trickery has led to no fewer than 39 models obtaining a four star rollover resistance rating. Of course, the increasing crop of car-based crossovers (and their attendant lower centers of gravity) likely has something to do with the higher scores as well.

Among this year's four-star class: Chevrolet's HHR (inexplicably classified as an SUV due to its flat load floor), Hyundai Tucson, Honda Pilot, and Suzuki's Grand Vitara, which is currently rolling around in the Autoblog Garage.

Chief SUV rollover risk were the Nissan Xterra 4x4 (25 percent chance of rollover), Chevrolet Tahoe 4x2 and Hummer H3 (24 percent chance)... but even these rated well enough to obtain three-star ratings.

Check out the link for more results.

[Sources: Car & Driver; Volvo]

Flipped off! 2006 SUV rollover resistance improves greatly, says NHTSA originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 01 Jun 2006 07:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While new vehicles continue to sprout ever-increasing numbers of safety features, traffic fatalities still hit a 15-year high in 2005, notching 43,200 fatalities according to a recent release by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). This represents an increase of 1.2 percent over 2004, while miles traveled only increased by 0.03% to a jaw-dropping 2.964 trillion. The projected death rate is still only 1.46 per 100 million miles traveled, which is only a slight increase from the record low of 1.44 in 2004 (which suggests that most means that motorists should spend less time worrying about automotive safety and put more effort into improving their health).

Deaths in passenger cars fell by approximately 2 percent, while SUVs and light trucks saw a 4 percent increase in body count. The motorcycle death toll jumped by 7.7 percent last year and has now doubled in less than a decade. Tellingly, two-wheelers now account for nearly 10 percent of all traffic deaths. 

Seatbelts are now used by over 80 percent of drivers, but fully 55 percent of those who died in a car crash were not using one.

Related: Distracted driving may account for most accidents

[Source: The Detroit News]

Vehicles get safer, but crash fatalities climb originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 28 Apr 2006 09:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.