The Auto Writer

Thousands of people die each year due to vehicle rollovers, a type of accident that is worsened in certain kinds of vehicles such as SUVs. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) — a private watchdog group funded by the insurance companies — recently tested for the first time one dozen small sport/utility vehicles to see how their roofs fared during a rollover, discovering that four performed “good” while two received a “poor” rating.

Tiguan Is Tops, Sportage Finishes Last

Topping the IIHS list were the VW Tiguan (best score), Jeep Patriot, Honda Element and the Subaru Forester. Faring poorly were the Hyundai Tucson and the Kia Sportage (worst score). Receiving an “acceptable” rating were the Suzuki Grand Vitara, Chevrolet Equinox, Pontiac Torrent, Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue and Mitsubishi Outlander while the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner, Honda CR-V and the Mazda Tribute were rated as “marginal.”

Although rollovers usually involve just three percent of all accidents, they represent approximately one-third of all deaths. Particularly vulnerable are passengers in high roof line vehicles such as SUVs, as these types of vehicles tend to fare very poorly in roof impacts.

The IIHS noted that vehicle roofs have gotten stronger over the past few years as car manufacturers have redesigned vehicles to withstand accidents involving impacts to their roofs. The IIHS awarded a “good” ranking to those vehicles which were more than twice as strong as the minimum federal safety standards required, with the top four vehicles tested having roofs that are 2.5 to 3.5 times stronger than the minimum federal safety standard for roof strength.

Building A Safer SUV

Both the VW Tiguan and Subaru Forester had previously finished at the top of front and side vehicle impact tests, demonstrating that building a safer sport/utility vehicle is possible.

The IIHS noted that while injuries and deaths involving rollovers can be limited with stronger roofs, they said that wearing seat belts is a must. In addition, electronic stability control significantly reduces rollovers while side curtain air bags can provide additional protection for passengers.