Notes That Fatality Rate is the Ultimate Safety Rating for Consumers

WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- SUV Owners of America (SUVOA) credited the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for issuing an improved system to help consumers buy new cars and light trucks, but noted that the best measure of vehicle safety is fatality rate per miles traveled.

SUVOA strongly supports technology and design improvements to make all vehicles more crashworthy and help avoid crashes -- including efforts to include stability -- as long as those improvements are affordable to consumers and do not compromise attributes prized by consumers, such as off-road capability and hauling capacity.

"We congratulate NHTSA for issuing this new tool to evaluate vehicle safety," said Ron DeFore, SUVOA communications director. "In combination with crash ratings that assess side and frontal impacts, the new rollover rating system provides consumers with more information on which vehicles offer the best crash protection.

"But real-world performance is what matters most," DeFore continued. "Consumers looking for the bottom line on safety should check a vehicle's safety performance in actual crashes. NHTSA and insurance industry data show the vehicles with the best on-the-road safety record are large SUVs and large 4-door sedans."

More information on SUV safety: http://www.suvoa.com

NHTSA release at: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa, click on "Press Releases"

Additional model-specific and vehicle-class safety information:

1. Consumer Reports at http://www.consumerreports.org/

2. Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: http://www.hwysafety.org/vehicle_ratings/ictl/ictl.htm http://www.iihs.org/safety_facts/fatality_facts/passveh.htm

Driven to Inform, Educate and Protect

SUVOA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending the rights of SUV owners.

Source: Sport Utility Vehicle Owners of America

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