In 2014 in the US there was a major research about the comparison of safety level and features between the SUVs and trucks. According to the results SUVs and passenger cars today are the safer choice.
After that research another scientists conducted their own research and wrote that pickups stack up, especially if you have a look at full-size pickups such as GMC Sierra of the latest makes.
In the matter of fact there is no easy answer to the question which is safer and better, because each vehicle type has its own advantages and looses in other features. In this article you can find comparative analysis of several important factors which influence vehicle’s safety rate for SUV and pickup trucks.
According to the Crush Testing and Highways Safety Organization, much of the difference between pickups and SUVs comes down to one extremely important safety feature, which is electronic stability control (ESC). If it is made correctly then it can very easily prevent regain control during a skid, or they can also prevent one from happening altogether. As a result a deadly rollover can be easily avoided.
Automotive experts explain that this dramatic reduction in the death rates of SUVs went together with the rapid introduction of ESC standard on this type of vehicles. Unfortunately, pickups lagged behind in getting this essential feature. For example, stability control became a standard feature for many vehicles of SUV class it was a standard in just one percent of pickups manufactured the same year. Several years later the number of trucks with stability control raised but still could not become a standard feature for these vehicles.
Different vehicles, different driver behavior
The name of this part of the article explains everything perfectly. People driving different vehicles behave in a different way. If you find and get Hyundai Elantra you will feel relaxed and at ease because it is the safest car ever, while driving an old Dodge Nitro you will be uncomfortable because of bad visibility and discomfort in the cabin.
One more very important point highlighted by Crush Testing and Highways Safety Organization is that while there is no doubt that the described above electronic stability control systems — which are currently included in all SUVs and trucks —do help to save lives and basically significantly increase safety rates for both types of vehicles, their positive effect varies from one car model to another. Automotive experts explain that it depends drastically on the components the system is connected to.
To sum the general idea of the article we would like to say that while absolute crash-test protection, weight, and size are definitely the factors, the actual real use of the vehicle can significantly complicate the ability of a driver to hold one model up to another. So the experts’ advice is to always check Crush Testing and Highways Safety Organization ratings as a starting point, but never should you hesitate to the true history of the model rates and consider fatality as well.