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Accord the most stable car
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January 9, 2001: 3:43 p.m. ET
Federal agency issues first report ranking auto rollover risk after years of delays
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The Honda Accord received the best rankings in the federal government's first report on the rollover risk of cars and light trucks Tuesday. Two General Motors sport/utility vehicles got the worst ratings, while the best-selling Ford Explorer S/UV fared slightly better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has been trying to publish rankings on rollover safety for years, but it took an outcry over rollover deaths following a massive recall of Firestone tires last August to overcome Congressional opposition to releasing the data.
 NHTSA's report ranks 34 2001 model-year vehicles by giving them stars according to their risk for rolling over in a single-vehicle accident, such as hitting a curb. The rankings do not predict the likelihood of a crash. One star carries the highest risk, while five stars indicates a more stable vehicle.
The top-rated vehicle, and the only one to receive five stars, was the Honda Accord. The other passenger vehicles studied received four stars, including the Chevrolet Cavalier, Honda Civic, Ford Taurus and Volkswagen Jetta.
 Two light trucks -- the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra ExCab 4X4 -- and two vans -- Honda Odyssey and Chrysler PT Cruiser – also were given four stars.
All the S/UVs included in the report had the lowest rankings with one-to-three stars, which is not surprising given reams of government data showing the vehicles have a high center of gravity, making them more likely to tip over in an accident.
GM's (GM: Research, Estimates) Chevrolet Blazer four-door 4X2 model sport/utility vehicle and GMC Jimmy/Envoy four-door 4X2 were the only two vehicles to get one star. Other models of the Chevrolet Blazer and GMC Jimmy/Envoy received two stars.
"Rollovers are certainly important," said GM chief executive Rick Wagoner in a press briefing with reporters at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. "But if you talk about overall safety, SUV's look pretty good compared to a lot of other vehicles. Rollovers aren't the only way one can injure themselves."
Nevertheless, the government said more than 60 percent of the S/UV occupants killed in 1999 died in rollover crashes. In comparison, 23 percent of car occupants killed died when their vehicles rolled over.
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The Ford Explorer, the best-selling S/UV, received two stars. Attention has swirled around the safety of the Explorer following the recall of Firestone tires, which came mostly as original equipment on the Explorer. The tires on Explorers were cited in the deaths of 148 people, according to NHTSA.
Ford Division President Jim O'Connor told CNNfn.com in Detroit that he believes S/UV owners are confident in the safety of their vehicles. "S/UVs are a lifestyle vehicle," he said. "People will not have a major change in their lifestyle because of this (ranking)."
But separately Tuesday, Ford Motor Co. (F: Research, Estimates) announced changes in the redesign of the Explorer and sister Mercury Mountaineer to reduce rollover risks.
Ford will make tire pressure monitors a standard feature on the 2002 Explorer and Mountaineer, set to go on sale in six weeks. Low tire pressure had been identified as one of the key factors in tread separations of the Firestone tires involved in the recall. Ford also is offering a "safety curtain" on its new S/UVs, a ceiling airbag that will sense when a rollover is imminent and stay inflated longer than most regular airbags.
The Explorer and Mountaineer also will offer an electronic stability control system, which works in conjunction with anti-lock brakes to help a driver come out of a skid. The system already is available on the subcompact Ford Focus, which received a four-star rating.
Ford said that while the tire pressure monitors were sped up in the wake of the Firestone recalls, the other changes were well under way even before the recall or the government's decision to release rollover ratings.
Click here for the government's rankings
 The government ratings are based on a "static stability factor," a measure of a vehicle's center of gravity and track width to determine how top heavy it is. The more top-heavy, the more likely it is to roll over, according to NHTSA.
But the report has drawn fire from the auto industry, which says the ranking system is flawed.
GM spokesman Terry Rhadigan said customers will have enough faith in GM vehicles that the ratings should not harm sales of the Blazer or Jimmy.
Even a Honda official said the good ratings for his company's vehicles aren't enough to reduce its concerns about the new system.
"Even though we've done well, we're not sure this is really, truly reflective of a real world situation," said Art Garner, a Honda spokesman. He said he's not convinced the top ranking will help sales. "I'm not sure this will be as widely accepted as crash ratings," he said.
NHTSA Administrator Sue Bailey said consumers should use the ratings to help when shopping for vehicle safety.
Also, she added: "Your best chance of surviving a rollover is by buckling up." Eighty percent of people killed in single-vehicle rollovers were not wearing seat belts, according to 1999 figures.
NHTSA expects to issue rollover resistance ratings for more than 80 2001 vehicles by April.
While Republicans had opposed the release of rollover ratings by NHTSA in the past, GM's Wagoner said he has no indication that the new administration would make these rankings a one-time event.
Democrat Norman Mineta is the nominee to be the new Transportation Secretary, the agency that oversees NHTSA. However former Transportation Secretary Andrew Card, who has served as GM's vice president of governmental relations until he left this summer to work on the Bush campaign, will be the new White House chief of staff. 
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