WASHINGTON, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- If SUVs were students and their owners were parents, "Mom and Dad" would be very pleased with today's report card from the federal government on SUV crashworthiness.

Crash test results from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) show high "grades" for 2004 SUVs in side and frontal crashes for both drivers and passengers.

Today's high safety scores for frontal and side crashes come on the heels of very safe rollover scores released earlier this year.

In side-impact crashes, perfect scores were achieved: Five out of five points were earned for both side-impact and side-impact rear passengers for all 11 SUVs for which test results were released. Regarding frontal crashes, the 12 SUVs for which results were released earned an overall high C, with four SUVs earning "As," and two earning "Bs" and the rest earning "Cs." A "straight B" cumulative side and frontal "grade" was earned by the 2004 SUVs tested by NHTSA, which range in size from a Dodge Durango to a Toyota RAV-4.

With regard to rollovers, in February, NHTSA reported that 9 SUVs or extended-cab pickups out of 22 tested earned 4 out of 5 stars in the agency's new rollover resistance test. Another 9 SUVs/extended cab pickups earned 3 stars.

NHTSA test results are available at www.safercar.gov.

"Today's scores are more good news for the 27 million SUV owners who are bombarded with disinformation about their SUVs," said Barry McCahill, president of SUVOA. "These results show that SUVs have outstanding safety attributes across the board in all major crash modes."

Driven to Inform, Educate and Protect

SUVOA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to defending the rights of SUV owners.

Source: Sport Utility Vehicles of America

###

Back to News