Are SUVs Safer Than Sedans?

The Safety Pros and Cons of SUVs

Pros:

• According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), with all things being considered equally, a bigger, heavier vehicle will provide more protection than a smaller, lighter one.
• Drivers sit higher in SUVs, allowing for greater ability to view traffic conditions.
• SUVs have higher ground clearance to manage more types of ground conditions.
• Four-wheel or all-wheel drive adds stability and traction when needed.

Cons:

• SUVs have a higher center of gravity, making them prone to rollover during sharp turns or while taking evasive action.
• SUVs take longer to stop because they are heavier than sedans.
• SUVs may have larger blind spots, limiting their view, especially of cyclists and pedestrians.
• In frontal crash testing, rear-seat passenger protection has been a safety concern in most mid-sized SUVs.

The Safety Pros and Cons of Sedans

In a head-on collision with an SUV, the risk of death to the sedan driver is almost 8 times higher, according to a study published by the HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine.

Improvements in design and safety technology have somewhat leveled the playing field concerning crash safety for sedans. Despite this, the changes cannot overcome the size and weight differences between larger and smaller vehicles.

Pros:

• Sedans have a lower center of gravity, which improves maneuverability and reduces the risk of rollover.
• Being smaller, sedans are more nimble and responsive when a quick maneuver is necessary.
• In a smaller car, there are fewer blind spots and better general visibility.

Cons:

• Sedans may not fare well in crashes with larger, heavier vehicles, especially head-on.
• Visibility is limited when driving among taller vehicles, which can slow reaction times.

Let’s examine how crash test ratings can give us more insight into whether SUVs are safer than sedans.

How Vehicle Size and Weight Affect Occupant Safety in Crashes

Frontal crashes account for more than 50% of the fatalities in passenger vehicle accidents. Larger vehicles have longer front ends, which protect occupants better in frontal crashes.

Heavier vehicles also can’t stop as quickly and will push a lighter vehicle backward, producing less impact from the force of the crash for the occupants of the bigger vehicle.

Recent SUV Updates Mean Better Safety for Those in Sedans

There is some good news for drivers of sedans: getting into an accident with an SUV now poses less of a risk to the occupants of smaller vehicles. In earlier models, SUV bumpers were typically placed without regard to how bigger vehicles might impact smaller ones. The unfortunate result could be an intrusion into the passenger compartment of the smaller vehicle.

Auto manufacturers have since lowered the energy-absorbing structures on SUVs so they line up with those of smaller cars. This change gives those in lower-profile vehicles, such as two-door and four-door cars, a better chance of survival and potentially less serious injury risk.

Crash Test Ratings and What They Tell You About Vehicle Safety

Vehicle crash testing and safety ratings are performed and evaluated by the IIHS and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). Each organization conducts a set of crash tests that differ slightly and can be used in combination to evaluate the crashworthiness of a vehicle.

The NHTSA performs a frontal crash into a barrier, a barrier side crash, a pole side crash, and a rollover resistance test. It uses a 5-star system to rate the results. The IIHS does a small side overlap crash test on each of the driver and passenger sides, a moderate overlap frontal crash test, and a driver’s side ram crash test. Results are graded as good, acceptable, marginal, or poor.

Crash test ratings reflect how well each vehicle responded to the testing conditions. Higher ratings mean safer cars under the testing conditions. However, few actual crashes conform specifically to the testing conditions, which can limit a rating’s value under real-world driving circumstances.

Other Factors Affecting How Well a Vehicle Will Perform in a Crash

A vehicle’s size and weight, design, and safety features definitely affect how well it protects its occupants in the event of a crash. However, there may be additional factors contributing to an accident that will reduce the effectiveness of a vehicle’s built-in protections. The following are variables that can influence how well a vehicle will protect its occupants in a real-world crash:

• Type of crash (front, side, rear)
• Force of impact
• Number of impacts
• Vehicle speed
• Road conditions
• Weather
• Driver behavior

Of all these elements, the most difficult to predict is driver behavior. Without care and due concern for others on the road, a negligent driver can be more likely to turn a larger vehicle into a deadly weapon. On the other side of the coin, a sedan driver who decides to drink and drive may not realize how their speed and delayed reflexes can cause serious injuries to those in an SUV. Even the safest vehicle can’t prevent the financial strain that follows a crash, especially if the at-fault driver was driving without insurance in California.

Current Technology Is Making All Cars Safer

As safety technology continues to become smarter, vehicle size may be less relevant to safety. According to Consumer Reports (CR), all vehicles being manufactured today are much safer than vehicles manufactured even ten years ago. Not only are vehicles now equipped with advanced passive safety features, but many also include driver assistance safety technology such as automatic emergency braking.

CR considers the following five vehicle safety enhancements to be essential in today’s safest cars:

• Automatic crash notification
• Electronic stability control, which automatically adjusts to keep a vehicle on the road
• Advanced crash protection that has a rating of Good from IIHS on small overlap crash test
• Automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection
• Advanced seat belts for rear seat passengers

It’s important to not that the average age of vehicles on the road today is 12.6 years, which means many of the vehicles involved in crashes probably are not equipped with the latest safety technology. Of the nearly 290 million vehicles in operation in the US, only about 30% are less than 6 years old.