Does size matter when it comes to safety? Consumers apparently think so, as their penchant for SUV-one-upmanship suggests. Conventional wisdom has it that the bigger the car, the safer occupants will be on the road. But when it comes to automotive safety engineering, bigger isn’t always better.

Riding high above the traffic surrounded by more than two tons of Detroit’s finest lulls the driver into feeling impermeable in a steel cocoon. But vehicle safety is a combination of structural integrity, occupant protection, and accident prevention equipment. While a tank-sized SUV is a formidable opponent in a crash with a Miata, what happens when the driver abruptly turns the wheel? Like many giants, the SUV’s greatest strength may also be its Achilles heel.

A weighty issue
Heavier vehicles typically fair better in accidents, reports National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSA), which is responsible for conducting crash tests for new vehicles, vehicles with significant structural or safety changes, and popular vehicles in the marketplace. In fact, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety doesn’t test the largest SUVs because it assumes that its occupants will fare well in front, side, and rear impact crashes. However, not all accidents are created equal, and while SUVs excel when it comes to front and rear end crashes, the SUV’s high center of gravity and relatively narrow body width makes the vehicle more prone to rolling over, a particularly deadly accident.

Accidents lurk around every corner, with approximately 6.1 million accidents occurring each year. All vehicles are susceptible to rollovers. There are reportedly 280,000 vehicles each year that required a tow-truck to remove it from the scene of a police-reported accident as a result of a rollover. SUVs are almost three times as likely as a car to roll over. While only 5.3 percent of SUV accidents result in a vehicle rollover, 33 percent of all vehicle fatalities caused by rollovers, and 85 percent of them were single-vehicle crashes. This means that in the event an SUV rolls over, the result can be fatal.

Most of these accidents occur when the driver loses control of the vehicle. It is then "tripped" by getting caught in soil or ditches--or makes contact with curbs or guardrail. The SUV’s top-heavy design also causes the vehicle to take longer to stop, which may increase a driver’s chances of rear-ending or striking another vehicle. The good news is that when an SUV rear-ends or strikes another vehicle, the SUV’s occupants are generally safe and it’s the other vehicle’s occupants that have to worry.

Mitigating risks
American drivers are not opposed to a little risk, and perhaps a little danger spices up the daily commute. SUV sales continue to rise each year despite the possibility of losing life or limb. Consumer groups have lobbied the NHTSA to increase safety requirements to improve the SUV’s safety and reaffirm its position as the favorite family car. As a result, the organization is slowly requiring manufactures to include more standard safety features that will make bigger truly better.

Beginning last September, all new cars will come equipped with tire sensing equipment. Underinflation is a major cause of blow outs on the road, and tire sensing equipment will monitor the tires’ air pressure and warns when its pressure is significantly lower than expected. Side airbags dramatically increase occupant protection in side-impact crashes, and will be required as a standard feature in all vehicles beginning 2013.

Electronic Stability Control (ESC) helps stabilize a car during abrupt driving maneuvers and prevent it from spinning out of control or rolling over. It’s estimated that when ESC becomes mandatory in 2012, it will result in 59 percent fewer SUV single vehicle crashes, according to the NHTSA. However, ESC will not make an SUV any safer in an accident or rollover.

Not required, but good to have
SUV drivers and occupants often fall victim to a false sense of security and ride without seat belts. Manufacturers can’t devise a way to require occupants to buckle up, so they’re implementing side airbag curtains that help protect an SUV’s occupants in an accident by keeping them in place when unrestrained in a rollover. Airbag curtains may add to the sticker price, but they’ll pay for themselves in the event your car ends upside down.

A growing casualty of the SUV may be the occupants that owners are trying to protect—their children. Many SUVs—especially full-sized models—have poor visibility and large blind spots that make it hard to spot objects behind it. A growing number of manufacturers are providing rear mounted cameras to help drivers see behind them when reversing, and like eyes in the back of your head, they’re an option any parent should choose.

But no car will every be accident proof, and every vehicle on the road can fall prey to a larger, heavier beast. Perhaps one of the biggest safety risks is one that manufacturers can’t control—the driver. To minimize your chance of being involved in an accident, always drive the appropriate speed for the conditions, minimize distractions such as cell phones, and never drive drowsy or impaired.