New Safety Stats Show SUVs Most Likely to Roll, Cars Least Likely Best

If avoiding a rollover in a highway smash into appeals to you, next you'd better disregard about export a sport-utility vehicle. The countrywide Highway Traffic Safety Administration has just released its latest rollover statistics and as a group, sport-utes completed poorly. Cars, on the extra hand did fine in the tests.

NHTSA use several sets of test and in sequence to subtract the scores. It use real-world industrial accident data (a calculation that essentially measures center of gravity) and a dynamic assessment maneuver whereby a vehicle is quickly turned one manner and then sharply the extra way.

Mazda can certainly get a bow, with its RX-8 4-door sports car scoring most excellent among all vehicles tested and the latest Mazda3 compact sedan in third lay. The Acura TL sedan finished second, Volkswagen's New Beetle Convertible was fourth overall, and Hyundai's Tiburon sports coupe fifth. The highest-ranked American fastest car was the Pontiac Grand Prix in eighth mark.

Chief in rollover avoidance amongst the SUV class was the all-wheel-drive version of the Chrysler Pacifica but one could argue whether the Pacifica is really an SUV; "tall station wagon" seems a other apt description for this crossover. And which vehicle finished last? Ford Explorer's SportTrac 4x2. The 4x2 versions of the Mercury Mountaineer, Ford Explorer, GMC Yukon and Chevy Tahoe too scored close to the bottom.

a few exciting facts accompanied the ratings. While having some passengers can build a low-riding sedan even other stable, high-riding sport utility vehicles become even more unstable with extra people, said R. David Pittle, senior vice leader of technological policy at Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine. A vehicle’s stability can be influenced by an array of factors, such as height, the width between tires, the design of its suspension system, tire grip, the place of the engine mount and even the weight of its sunroof, NHTSA engineers say.

Perhaps the saddest guide to approach as of the government's data is one which shows that 75% of every occupant killed in rollovers were not wearing seatbelts. In this writer's opinion anyone who refuses to buckle up is not only neglecting their responsibility to family and culture however is a damn fool. Unfortunately, in as well various cases, a dead fool.