Should Wisconsin Motorists Be Afraid Of SUVs and Pickup Trucks?

For a long time, SUVs and pickup trucks were known to be unsafe to other vehicles, likely to kill the occupants of cars and minivans because of their greater weight, size and strength.

A recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) puts an end to this dishonorable reputation, concluding that SUVs are now as safe to cars and minivans as other vehicles of the same weight, while the risk posed by pickup trucks to other passenger cars has been seriously reduced.

Whereas one- to four-year-old SUVs - weighing between 3,000 and 3,500 pounds - were involved in crashes killing car or minivan occupants at a rate of 44 deaths per million registered vehicles in 2000-2001, the fatality rate declined to 16 deaths in the 2008-2009 period.

The same rate, applied to cars or minivans crashing with other cars or minivans in the same weight category, stands at 17 per million registered vehicles in 2008-2009.

According to the IIHS, while the improvement is partly the result of better car and minivan crashworthiness and safety features like airbags, newer shock absorbing structures and better front-end design on SUVs and pickup trucks played an important role.

The government, IIHS and the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) had long pressured automakers to align the front-end structure with the height and structure of cars and minivans. Automakers also agreed to improve head protection for car occupants by installing side air bags. While the deadline was September 2009, many vehicles marketed in 2004-2008 already complied.

If you have been hurt in a Wisconsin or Illinois car, truck or motorcycle accident, contact the attorneys of Hupy & Abraham, S.C. today at 800-800-5676 (toll-free) or 414-223-4800 (local) for a free evaluation of your case, or send us an e-mail with your questions. Hupy & Abraham has lawyer offices in Milwaukee, Madison, and Appleton in Wisconsin, and Gurnee and Bloomington in Illinois.