Children No Safer in SUVs
Than in Passenger Cars
JAN DENNIS / AP 3jan2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Children are no safer riding in sport utility vehicles
than in passenger cars, largely because the doubled risk of rollovers in SUVs
cancels out the safety advantages of their greater size and weight, according to
a study.
|
Mindfully.org
note:
So. . . if you and your children are no safer. . . and the thing costs a lot
more to drive. . . and it's hard to park . . . why do you drive an SUV?
And will you keep driving it to impress your friends and neighbors? Come
to think of it, the only ones who gain by you driving an SUV are the
manufacturers, the dealers, the insurers, the service garages, the gas
stations and the petroleum manufacturers. Aside from those people, then we
have the military and contractors who forcibly keep the oil flowing, which
detracts from the quality of life in everyone's city, town or village —
schools, daycare services, healthcare services, libraries and much more
— by taking tax money to pay for the war(s). And if you think this is
just liberal belly-aching, check out the numbers. Then see what you're
actually getting for your tax money by spending it on keeping the oil
flowing. Add it all up and you'll see that Liberals and Conservatives have
been stumped for quite a long time by all political parties. It just so
happens that the present administration has nearly perfected the means by
which it extracts money from your pockets. Keep driving that SUV and you
have nobody but yourself to blame for being called a chump. In fact, keep
driving any car and you're only minutely better off than the chumps who
drive SUVs! |
Researchers said the findings dispel the bigger-equals-safer myth that has
helped fuel the growing popularity of SUVs among families. SUV registrations
climbed 250 percent in the United States between 1995 and 2002.
"We're not saying they're worse or that they're terrible vehicles. We're
challenging the conventional wisdom that everyone assumed they were
better," said Dr. Dennis Durbin, a pediatric emergency physician who took
part in the study, published Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics.
Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said
he had not seen the study but cited government research released last summer
that found SUVs have become less top-heavy since 2000 and made dramatic
improvements in rollover resistance.
"SUVs have an exceptional safety record and are safer than or as safe as
cars in the vast majority of crashes," Shosteck said.
The study, which Durbin called the first on SUVs and child safety, was
sponsored by Partners for Child Passenger Safety, a research project of
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the world's largest insurer,
Bloomington-based State Farm Insurance Co.
The researchers looked at accidents involving nearly 4,000 children under age
16 between 2000 and 2003, and found child injury rates of about 1.7 percent in
both cars and SUVs. The study examined only 1998 or newer cars and SUVs with
second-generation air bags.
On average, the SUVs weighed 1,300 pounds more than the cars studied. The
study found that the extra weight of SUVs enhanced safety, reducing the risk of
injury by more than a third.
But that was offset by findings that SUVs were more than twice as likely as
cars to roll over in crashes.
Children in rollovers were three times more likely to be seriously injured
than those in non-rollover accidents, according to the study.
The findings surprised researchers, who assumed heavier SUVs were safer than
cars when they launched the study a year ago, Durbin said.
SUV safety will probably improve because of legislation approved by Congress
this year that requires the National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration to develop standards for automakers to address SUV rollovers, he
said.
"To the extent that SUV makers can solve the rollover problem, we may
see them becoming the safe haven for children that they have the potential to
be," Durbin said.
Automakers already have made strides through engineering and new technology
such as electronic stability control, Shosteck said.
NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson agreed but said he hopes the study will encourage
families to check safety ratings closely before buying.
"I think there is a segment of the buying public that may be buying them
with the false impression that they are buying the safest vehicle they can for
their families," Tyson said.
source: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/03/study_shows_children_no_safer_in_suvs?mode=PF
3jan2006
New Study Puts Brakes on SUV Safety Claims
AP 3jan2006
Children are no safer riding in sport utility vehicles than in passenger
cars, largely because the doubled risk of rollovers in SUVs cancels out the
safety advantages of their greater size and weight, according to a study.
Researchers said the findings dispel the bigger-equals-safer myth that has
helped fuel the growing popularity of SUVs among families. SUV registrations
climbed 250 percent in the United States between 1995 and 2002.
“We’re not saying they’re worse or that they’re terrible vehicles. We’re
challenging the conventional wisdom that everyone assumed they were better,”
said Dr. Dennis Durbin, a pediatric emergency physician who took part in the
study, published yesterday in the journal Pediatrics.
Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers,
cited government research released last summer that found SUVs have become less
top-heavy since 2000 and made dramatic improvements in rollover resistance. “SUVs
have an exceptional safety record and are safer than or as safe as cars in the
vast majority of crashes,” Shosteck said.
The study was sponsored by Partners for Child Passenger Safety, a research
project of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the world’s largest
insurer, Bloomington, Ill.-based State Farm Insurance Co.
The researchers looked at accidents involving nearly 4,000 children under age
16 between 2000 and 2003, and found child injury rates of about 1.7 percent in
both cars and SUVs.
source: http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=119666
3jan2006
Children Just As Safe in Passenger Cars as in SUVs
AP 3jan2006
Children are no safer riding in sport-utility vehicles than in passenger
cars, largely because the doubled risk of rollovers in SUVs cancels out the
safety advantages of their greater size and weight, according to a study.
Researchers said the findings dispel the bigger-equals-safer myth that has
helped fuel the growing popularity of SUVs among families. SUV registrations
climbed 250% in the U.S. between 1995 and 2002.
"We're not saying they're worse or that they're terrible vehicles. We're
challenging the conventional wisdom that everyone assumed they were
better," said Dennis Durbin, a pediatric emergency physician who took part
in the study, published today in the journal Pediatrics.
Eron Shosteck, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, said
he hadn't seen the study but cited government research released last summer that
found SUVs have become less top-heavy since 2000 and made substantial
improvements in rollover resistance.
"SUVs have an exceptional safety record and are safer than or as safe as
cars in the vast majority of crashes," Mr. Shosteck said.
The study, which Dr. Durbin called the first on SUVs and child safety, was
sponsored by Partners for Child Passenger Safety, a research project of
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance Co.
The researchers looked at accidents involving nearly 4,000 children under age
16 between 2000 and 2003, and found child-injury rates of about 1.7% in both
cars and SUVs. The study examined only 1998 or newer cars and SUVs with
second-generation air bags.
On average, the SUVs weighed 1,300 pounds more than the cars studied. The
study found that the extra weight of SUVs enhanced safety, reducing the risk of
injury by more than a third. But that was offset by findings that SUVs were more
than twice as likely as cars to roll over in crashes.
Children in rollovers were three times as likely to be seriously injured than
those in nonrollover accidents, according to the study.
The findings surprised researchers, who assumed heavier SUVs were safer than
cars when they launched the study a year ago, Dr. Durbin said.
SUV safety will probably improve because of recently approved legislation
that requires the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration to
develop standards for auto makers to address SUV rollovers, he said.
Auto makers already have made strides through engineering and new technology
such as electronic stability control, Mr. Shosteck said.
NHTSA spokesman Rae Tyson agreed but said he hopes the study will encourage
families to check safety ratings closely before buying.
SUV's "No safer" Says Study
Reuters 3jan2006
A US hospital study has undermined the common American belief that
"bigger is safer" when it comes to SUV's.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has published a study in the journal
Pediatrics saying that the increased chance of a giant SUV rolling over negates
the benefit from being in such a large vehicle. The study looked at over 3,900
child injuries experienced in different types of vehicles.
The study concluded that the most important factor in child injuries was how
well the child was restrained. 41% of unrestrained children in SUV's accidents
suffered a serious injury compared with only 3% of appropriately restrained
children. Overall, injury risk for appropriately restrained children in
passenger cars is less than 2%.
source: http://motoring.reuters.co.uk/reuters/vocmain.jsp?lnk=101&id=1507
3jan2006