Editorial: Debunking the SUV safety myth

Friday, Jan. 6, 2006 | 7:31 a.m.

Results of a recently published study suggest children are just as likely to be injured in crashes while riding in sport utility vehicles as they are while riding in passenger cars.

The research, compiled by the State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., could come as a surprise to millions of parents who have purchased the larger, more expensive SUVs for safety reasons. According to the study, published in the journal Pediatrics, children younger than 16 who wore proper safety restraints faced an injury risk of about 1.7 percent whether they were riding in passenger cars or SUVs.

Despite the increased weight of SUVs, injuries from rollover crashes were more common in SUVs and the risks of such injuries outweighed the vehicles' other safety benefits, the report concluded. Children in both types of vehicles fared better when seated in back wearing appropriate safety restraints. The risk of injury from air bag deployment came out the same in both SUVs and smaller passenger vehicles.

The report could further erode some long-held beliefs in a society of drivers increasingly concerned with safety. But the news is good for motorists for whom safety in crashes is their sole reason for owning the larger vehicles that are less efficient on gasoline consumption.

The study implies that people who don't need the carrying space or off-road capability of SUVs, and who would prefer to drive smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, could do so and still feel safe, as long as they use seat belts properly. Dennis Durbin, one of the researchers, told Bloomberg News that parents "could reduce the risk of injury to their child by about half" in most crashes by placing children younger than 13 in the back seat.

In response to the increasing concerns over rollover risks, auto manufacturers have begun designing SUVs with wider frames and lower centers of gravity. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also is proposing new regulations that would require stronger roofs on cars and light trucks.

The number of smaller, more fuel-efficient and hybrid vehicles on the market is increasing. But motorists concerned with safety often don't choose them. This study suggests, however, that a vehicle's size doesn't matter nearly as much as what we do with proper safety restraints and attentive, defensive driving.