SUV Rollover

SUVs, Trucks Fare Poorly in Rollover Tests

If you drive a 2001 sports-utility vehicle (SUV), you run the risk of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash, usually when the vehicle runs off the road into a curb, ditch or soft soil. That's the finding of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as released in a government report for 30 vehicles. At the same time the report gave low marks to SUVs, it gave high grades to cars.

The NHTSA didn't give more than three-star ratings to any SUV, while all cars received four or five stars. Here were the individual ratings:

• Five Stars - Ford Crown Victoria four-door, Lincoln LS four-door, Mercury Grand Marquis four-door, Toyota Camry four-door.
• Four Stars - Chevrolet Prizm four-door, Ford Windstar van, Hyundai Accent four-door, Mercury Villager van, Nissan Quest van, Oldsmobile Alero four-door, Pontiac Grand Am four-door, Toyota Corolla four-door, Toyota Sienna van.
• Three Stars - Ford Escape 4x2 four-door SUV, Ford Escape 4x4 four-door SUV, Honda Passport 4x2 four-door SUV, Isuzu Rodeo 4x2 four-door SUV, Mazda Tribute 4x2 four-door SUV, Mazda Tribute 4x4 four-door SUV, Nissan Frontier 4x4 four-door pickup, Subaru Forester 4x4 four-door SUV.
• Two Stars - Ford Explorer 4x2 four-door SUV, Ford F-150 4x4 two-door pickup, Infiniti QX4 4x2 four-door SUV, Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x2 four-door SUV, Jeep Wrangler 4x4 two-door SUV, Mercury Mountaineer 4x2 four-door SUV, Mitsubishi Montero Sport 4x2 four-door SUV, Nissan Pathfinder 4x2 four-door SUV, Nissan Xterra 4x4 four-door SUV.

The auto industry and consumer groups have been critical of these ratings, arguing that actual driving tests should be used, not just vehicle measurements. On the other hand, NHTSA argues that the ratings correspond to real-world accidents--more than 60 percent of fatalities in SUVs and more than 40 percent of deaths in pickups happen in rollovers. By comparison, 22 percent of car deaths involve rollovers.

Many of the 174 deaths linked to Firestone tires occurred when a tire failed on a Ford Explorer, and it then rolled over. NHTSA gave the Explorer 4x2 a two-star rating, meaning it has a 30-to-40-percent chance of rolling over in a crash.

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