Highlights Many SUVs are now built with unibody, instead of body-on-frame, construction The safety effects of unibody construction were unknown, both for SUV occupants and for the occupants of other vehicles they crash with. Fatality risk was lower in occupants of vehicles struck by unibody SUVs, compared to occupants of vehicles struck by body-on-frame SUVs. Unibody SUVs may also protect their own occupants better than body-on-frame SUVs do.
Abstract Background In crashes between cars and SUVs, car occupants are more likely to be killed than if they crashed with another car. An increasing proportion of SUVs are built with unibody, rather than truck-like body-on-frame construction. Unibody SUVs are generally lighter, less stiff, and less likely to roll over than body-on-frame SUVs, but whether unibody structure affects risk of death in crashes is unknown. Objective To determine whether unibody SUVs differ from body-on-frame SUVs in the danger they pose to occupants of other vehicles and in the self-protection they offer to their own occupants. Methods Case–control study of crashes between one compact SUV and one other passenger vehicle in the US during 1995–2008, in which the SUV was model year 1996–2006. Cases were all decedents in fatal crashes, one control was selected from each non-fatal crash. Findings Occupants of passenger vehicles that crashed with compact unibody SUVs were at 18% lower risk of death compared to those that crashed with compact body-on-frame SUVs (adjusted odds ratio 0.82 (95% confidence interval 0.73–0.94)). Occupants of compact unibody SUVs were also at lower risk of death compared to occupants of body-on-frame SUVs (0.86 (0.72–1.02)). Conclusions In two-vehicle collisions involving compact SUVs, unibody structure was associated with lower risk of death both in occupants of other vehicles in the crash, and in SUVs’ own occupants.
Crash fatality risk and unibody versus body-on-frame structure in SUVs
Accident Analysis and Prevention ; 70 ; 267-272
2014-03-31
6 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
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