SUV double whammy: dangerous and expensive to insure

Sport utility vehicles have been posting some pretty impressive numbers over the past several years. Unfortunately, some could be bad news for both your health and bank account.

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SUVs racked up some 24 percent of all new-vehicle sales in the United States for 2003 and, with well over 20 million on the road today, represent nearly 12 percent of all registered vehicles in the country.

But along with the record sales and both dealer and tax incentives come disturbing statistics on accidents, rollovers, fatalities, skyrocketing repair costs and increased insurance premiums.

The people who own them love them. They're roomy, comfortable, have lots of storage space and can go off-road. Others say they drive SUVs because they feel safer in the larger, heavier and higher vehicles.

But statistics don't back up that claim.

A misconception
The latest figures show SUV fatalities increased 11 percent in 2003 to a total of 4,451. Single-vehicle rollover crashes accounted for nearly 50 percent of driver deaths in SUVs in 2002, compared with 36 percent of deaths in pickups and 20 percent of deaths in cars. And the proportion of deaths involving pickup and SUV drivers is growing as the popularity of these vehicles increases.

"There is a misconception that SUVs are safer than cars," says Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "That's not borne out by the crash statistics that we compile each year. Pound for pound, if you're comparing vehicles of a similar weight, SUVs tend to be less safe than cars."

Cars are safer
SUVs aren't built like small cars and don't drive like them. Yes, they're higher and you can see the road ahead better, but that height also gives them a higher center of gravity, which makes them less balanced than smaller, sedan-type vehicles -- and more likely to flip. Their steering is typically not as precise as a car's and their suspensions are not ideal for driving or taking curved freeway off-ramps at high speed.

True, in a crash with a car an SUV will inflict more damage because it is heavier, stiffer and higher than a passenger car, says Kim Hazelbaker, senior vice president of the Highway Loss Data Institute. In a severe crash, the SUV will also inflict more damage to the occupants of the other vehicle.

In fact, many insurance companies charge higher liability insurance for SUV drivers because studies show the damage to the other vehicle is greater in a crash.

"They do more damage to the other vehicles so their liability rates are always higher," says Sabrina Howell, an agent with Nationwide Insurance in Orlando, Fla. "They are also more costly to repair."

Howell says all that makes SUVs cost more to insure.

A male in his mid-40s with a clean driving record living in Orlando, Fla., a city with an average number of insurance claims, would pay about $944 a year to insure a 2003 Toyota Camry. The same individual wanting to insure a 2003 Ford Expedition would pay around $1,019 a year, a difference of $75. And the difference is even greater if you insure a smaller SUV like a Toyota RAV 4 -- which would cost almost $1,100 a year.

The rates are based on the insured getting a $500 deductible for comprehensive and collision coverage, bodily injury coverage of $100,000 per person, $300,000 per incident, and property damage liability of $50,000.

It's all in the rollover
The big issue about driving an SUV is the propensity for a rollover.

This danger increases depending on how narrow the vehicle's track width is, how short the wheelbase is and how high the center of gravity is, says Hazelbaker. "The shorter, narrower and higher these things are, the greater the chance of a rollover."

He says some of the smallest SUVs have the highest rollover rates and highest death rates -- partly because many younger people drive the smaller SUVs.

"They tend to drive more recklessly and are not as experienced in handling a vehicle in a severe situation," he says.

The overwhelming numbers of people killed in SUV rollover accidents are unbuckled. "The real danger from any rollover is ejection from the vehicle," says Hazelbaker. Almost 60 percent of the people killed in traffic accidents weren't wearing seat belts.

Larger SUVs have less of a problem with rollover because they have longer wheel bases and a wider track width.

Bankrate's SUV safety tips can help drivers of these popular vehicles avoid the hazards commonly associated with them.

Prakash Gandhi is a freelance writer based in Florida.