Economic Externalities of Relative Accident Rates between SUV vs. Passenger Cars
Record Type: UTC

The sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a combination of a light pick up chassis of a passenger car (PC) with the space of a minivan. SUVs have been present in the American market since the 1980s, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that they became popular among consumers. With the growing popularity of the SUV, several issues have been raised. In 2003, Dr. Jeffery Runge, head of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), stated that due to the high roll over rate, this type of vehicle is very dangerous. In addition to the roll over rate, issues like road incompatibility and high gas consumption have also become concerns. Perhaps the biggest anxiety is driver behavior. The driver may have a sense of false security in a bigger vehicle, and therefore take more risks while driving, which in turn could cause more accidents. This research project is part of the annual Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center research grant. This research will help to determine if SUV’s present a hazard to other vehicles, especially passenger cars, or if such hazards are more perceived than ral. Additionally, it will establish if SUV’s should be subject to an economic externality such as a tax. The research will be accomplished through the development of a model to test the hypothesis and analysis of the results.
Start date: 2008/8/27
End date: 2008/9/30
Status: Active
Contract/Grant Number: DTRS99-G-003
Secondary Number: WVU-2006-02
Total Dollars: 49756
Source Organization: Mid-Atlantic Universities Transportation Center (MAUTC)
Date Added: 05/18/2008
Index Terms: Sport utility vehicles, Rollover accidents, Fuel consumption, Accident rates, Behavior, Risk taking, Accident risk forecasting, Research projects,

West Virginia Department of Highways
1900 Kanawha Building East
Charleston, WV 25365
USA
Phone: (304) 558-0444

Mattox, Paul
Phone: (304) 558-0444

Kinsey, Chris

West Virginia University, Morgantown
Morgantown, WV 26506
USA

Martinelli, David R.
Phone: (304) 293-0111