Though Bigger, Sport-Utility Vehicles Can Be Just as Deadly as Cars

People riding in sport-utility vehicles are just as likely to die in crashes as those in smaller passenger cars because sport-utilities roll over more often, according to a new study presented during a conference of auto and safety experts this week.

Sport-utility sales are increasing in popularity in part because the vehicles instill a greater sense of safety due to their larger size and higher driving position than passenger cars.

But the study by two industry safety consultants analyzed government crash data and found that sport-utility vehicles are four times as likely as cars to roll over in crashes. Higher death rates in rollovers offset lower death rates in other types of crashes.

Consultants Athan Malliaris and Kenneth Digges, both former employees of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, presented the study Wednesday to a Detroit seminar on truck safety sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers.

According to Malliaris,the problem is the high center of gravity of sport-utility vehicles. It gives them better off-road ground clearance. The way to reduce rollovers in sport-utility vehicles would be to design them lower to the ground..

NHTSA, the federal agency that sets automotive safety standards, said the study does not provide any new insights into the rollover propensity of sport-utility vehicles, or SUVs.

“SUVs by definition are more likely to roll over,” said NHTSA spokesman Tim Hurd. “The reason is that they’re built for occasional off-road use.”

Hurd said NHTSA has long required warning labels in sport- utility vehicles urging drivers to use caution in sharp turns because the vehicles can roll over. He added that much research into making the vehicles safer is being conducted throughout the auto industry, but the agency is not considering any immediate changes to safety standards.

“The idea that you should just change the geometry of the vehicle has been rejected,” he said.