SUVs safest on road, insurance report says

ARLINGTON, Va., April 19 (UPI) -- U.S. vehicle death rates fell 30 percent, with sport utility vehicles generally the safest, a report funded by U.S. auto insurers said Thursday.

The falling death rate since the 1990s reflects improvements in car design and equipment, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety report said.

General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet models recorded the highest and lowest driver death rates, the report said.

Its Astro minivan had seven deaths per million registered vehicle years -- the lowest of all vehicles studied.

By contrast, its two-door, two-wheel-drive midsize Blazer SUV was the deadliest, at 232 per million, the report said.

The smallest vehicles in any type and body style generally had the highest death rates, the report said. Midsize and very large luxury cars generally had the lowest rates.

Exceptions to the bigger-is-safer rule included midsize sports cars, very large four-wheel-drive SUVs and large station wagons, which are deadlier than smaller cars in their class.

The report looked at driver death rates in 2001 to 2004 model-year vehicles involved in crashes from 2002 through 2005. It focused on driver deaths because every car has a driver but not always a passenger, but the results represent the fatality risk for anyone in the vehicle, the report said.

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