Playboypenguin said:
You are missing the point. Safety ratings have little to do with the actually numbers of accidents. The numbers on the cars (which you posted) are not based on actual real time traffic reports. They are calculations based on information obtained from testing.
That is why I provided the
Insurance Losses by Make and Model from the Highway Loss Data Institute. The IIHS has it covered at both ends; testing and statistical history.
from the Highway Loss Data Institute
Fatality Facts
42,642 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2006. The Institute publishes statistical facts about the motor vehicle safety picture in 2006, the most recent year for which fatality data are available. Fatality Facts are updated once a year, when the US Department of Transportation releases data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
Insurance losses by make and model
These pages show losses for hundreds of passenger vehicles grouped by body style and size under six insurance coverages: collision, property damage liability, comprehensive personal injury protection, medical payment, and bodily injury.
Insurance loss fact sheets
HLDI results are based on analysis of the losses of more than 150 million vehicles under 6 insurance coverages. These losses vary widely not only among vehicle size/type groups but also among vehicle models that are similar in size and type
Even a quick review of the loss data (color coded for your convenience) reveals that actual losses are much higher for small cars and all cars than for any size SUV. Just look at the personal, medical and bodily injury losses for small 4 door cars -- its a sea of
red. (But perhaps their fuel savings balanced the medical costs and personal tragedy.)
Perhaps like someone else here, you would conveniently prefer to identify SUVs by categories of your personal design, regarding body-on-frame construction, and disregarding the IIHS studies. If that is the case, then we're wasting time. This would apply equally to
having a friend in the business.
It's perfectly acceptable to me to consider the IIHS categories of SUV which include modern unit-body construction. Certainly, traditional design SUVs such as Jeep Commander and Dodge Durango do not fare well, thus supporting your (limited) contention.
But, modern X-over SUVs such as Acura, Lexus and Volvo are demonstratedly among the safest vehicles on the road. Not only is their loss data "average" or "substantially better", but they meet the newest, stringent impact and roll-over standards. There are 20 to choose from as "Top Safety Picks".
Perhaps you would like to identify the small, fuel efficient car -- that you would like to put
your children in -- from the "Top Safety" list. You've got one to choose from, and the All-Wheel-Drive Impreza is not a fuel conservationists dream.