Honda Accord 4-door sedan – 5 stars

Two General Motors sport utility vehicles received the lowest score in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s first report on passenger vehicles’ resistance to rollover crashes released today (9/1/01). In contrast, the Honda Accord sedan achieved the sole five-star rating.

The 2001 two-wheel drive Chevrolet Blazer four-door and the 2001 four-door, 2WD GMC Jimmy/Envoy were both awarded just one star. The 2001 Ford Explorer, currently the subject of numerous lawsuits as a result of rollover accidents, scored two stars.

Several popular SUVs shared a three-star rating including the Chevrolet Suburban, Tahoe and Tracker, the GMC Yukon, Honda’s CR-V and the Suzuki Vitara.

Some 2001 light trucks and minivans were also rated in the first report and the Honda Odyssey (Shuttle), Chrysler PT Cruiser, the two-wheel drive Chevrolet Silverado and the 2WD GMC Sierra all scored four stars.

Several 2001 model year passenger cars also scored four stars but Honda’s Accord four-door sedan achieved the sole five-star rating.

The ratings were announced after the Transport Department’s National Highways Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalised a rating programme intended to provide consumers with a measure of a vehicle’s resistance to rolling over in a single vehicle crash.

More than 10,000 people die in rollover crashes each year in the U.S., the NHTSA says. Over 60% of SUV occupants killed in 1999 died in rollovers, compared with 23% of car occupants.

Chevrolet’s Blazer two-wheel drive scored just 1 star

The NHTSA’s Rollover Resistance Rating is an estimate of the risk of rolling over if a person has a single vehicle crash, usually when the vehicle runs off the road and is tripped by a curb, ditch or soft soil. It does not predict the likelihood of that crash.

The Rollover Resistance Rating is based on ‘static stability factor,’ a measure of a vehicle’s centre of gravity and track width to determine how ‘top-heavy’ the vehicle is. The more ‘top-heavy’ the vehicle, the more likely it is to roll over. The lowest-rated vehicles (one star) are at least four times more likely to roll over than the highest-rated vehicles (five stars).

Announcing the ratings, U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater said: “By providing consumers with information about the comparative rollover risk of various types of vehicles, they will be better able to choose a safe vehicle for themselves and their family.”

“We expect these ratings to drive improved safety, which is President Clinton and Vice President Gore’s highest transportation priority. By providing consumers with additional information, we can motivate manufacturers to respond with safer, more stable vehicles.”

NHTSA Administrator Dr. Sue Bailey stated the importance of these ratings to consumers when shopping for safety. She said that with the rollover resistance ratings, NHTSA is providing consumers with information about one of the deadliest types of crashes.

NHTSA expects motivated manufacturers will respond to consumer demand for safer, more stable vehicles. In 1979 when NCAP ratings for frontal crashes began, just 33 percent of vehicles achieved a four- or five-star rating. By 1997, 85 percent had received four or five stars.

Bailey emphasized that the best consumer advice about rollover is the dramatic effect of seat belts. “Your best chance of surviving a rollover is by buckling up. Eighty percent of the people killed in single vehicle rollovers were unbelted, and we know that belted occupants are about 75 percent less likely to be killed in a rollover crash than unbelted occupants,” Bailey said.

2WD Blazer’s GMC Sibling, the 2WD Jimmy, also scored just 1 star

One vehicle rated with four stars, the Ford Focus four-door sedan, has Electronic Stability Control, a device which the NHTSA says does not affect its Rollover Resistance Rating directly but may reduce the likelihood of a single vehicle crash, and thus, the risk of subsequent rollover. The agency will note vehicles equipped with Electronic Stability Control in all future Rollover Resistance Ratings announcements.

The agency expects to issue rollover resistance ratings for more than 80 Model Year 2001 vehicles by April.

The NHTSA five star rating system:

In a single vehicle crash, a vehicle with a rating of:
hrehezsth
Five Stars –		Has a risk of rollover of less than 10 percent
Four Stars –		Has a risk of rollover between 10 percent and 20 percent
Three Stars –		Has a risk of rollover between 20 percent and 30 percent
Two Stars –		Has a risk of rollover between 30 percent and 40 percent
One Star –		Has a risk of rollover greater than 40 percent

 

NHTSA Rollover Resistance Ratings Table

Vehicle	Model Tested	Rollover Resistance Rating
sgwrgh
2001 Light Passenger Cars (2000-2499 lbs. curb weight)
Ford Focus	4DR(1)	4 stars
sg\h
2001 Compact Passenger Cars (2500-2999 lbs. curb weight)
Chevrolet Cavalier	4DR	4 stars
Honda Civic	4DR	4 stars
Pontiac Sunfire	4DR	4 stars
Volkswagen Jetta	4DR	4 stars
s\g\whg
2001 Medium Passenger Cars (3000-3499 lbs. curb weight)
Chevrolet Impala	4DR	4 stars
Ford Taurus	4DR	4 stars
Honda Accord	4DR	5 stars
Mercury Sable	4DR	4 stars
afweg
2001 Sport Utility Vehicles
Chevrolet Blazer	4DR 4×2	1 star
hteh\g\wg	4 DR 4×4	2 stars
Chevrolet Suburban	4×4	3 stars
Chevrolet Tahoe	4DR 4×4	3 stars
Chevrolet Tracker	4DR 4×2	3 stars
htshj	4DR 4×4	3 stars
Ford Expedition	4×2	2 stars
Ford Explorer	4×4	2 stars
GMC Jimmy	4DR 4×2	1 star
gheay	4 DR 4×4	2 stars
GMC Yukon	4DR 4×4	3 stars
GMC Yukon XL	4×4	3 stars
Honda CR-V	4×4	3 stars
Jeep Grand Cherokee	4×4	2 stars
Lincoln Navigator	4×2	2 stars
Mercury Mountaineer	4×4	2 stars
Mitsubishi Montero Sport	4×4	2 stars
Oldsmobile Bravada	4 DR 4×4	2 stars
Suzuki Vitara	4DR 4×2	3 stars
gewrag	4DR 4×4	3 stars
gw\gw
2001 Light Trucks
Chevrolet S-10	4×2	3 stars
wegh	4×4	3 stars
Chevrolet Silverado	ExCab 4×2	4 stars
wgwhg	ExCab 4×4	3 stars
Ford F-150	4×4	3 stars
GMC Sierra	ExCab 4×2	4 stars
wrehg	ExCab 4×4	3 stars
GMC Sonoma	4×2	3 stars
wgwehg	4×4	3 stars
Isuzu Hombre	4×2	3 stars
g\wh	4×4	3 stars
greh
2001 Vans
Honda Odyssey	ghbswsg	4 stars
Mazda MPV	wgwh	3 stars
Chrysler PT Cruiser	4DR	4 stars