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Accident Reconstruction News Article

U.S. says rollover ratings of SUVs improving

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - Sport utility vehicles are increasingly earning high marks in government ratings of their resistance to rollover accidents, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Wednesday.

Federal highway regulators said the number of SUVs with a four-star rollover rating out of a possible five stars had increased substantially since the ratings began in 2001.

In 2001, just one SUV earned four stars, but 24 SUVs earned a four-star rating in newly released rollover test results for 2005 model year vehicles.

Passenger car and pickup truck scores remained relatively constant, NHTSA said in a statement.

For 2005 model year vehicles tested, the highest rated SUV was Ford Motor Co.'s (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Freestyle 4x4, earning 4-stars with a 13 percent chance of rollover if involved in a single-vehicle crash.

The Freestyle, a crossover vehicle that combines SUV and station wagon styling with a car-like ride, matches DaimlerChrysler's (DCX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) (DCXGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) 2005 Pacifica, a carry-over vehicle from 2004, which also earned four stars and a 13 percent chance of rollover during the 2004 model year testing.

NHTSA Administrator Jeffrey Runge said his agency's ratings program had exerted a positive influence, helping to make SUVs more stable. "Today we have twenty-four (model year) 2005 SUVs with a 4-star rollover rating, whereas 2 years ago we had only five".

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