A way to compare the safety of vehicles is to look at the rate of driver death per vehicle. The latest date compiled from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) is of 2017 vehicles. From time to time, IIHS researchers compute the rate at which drivers of individual models from a given year are killed in crashes.
The rates shown below are given as the number of driver deaths per million registered Sports Utility vehicle years. (A registered vehicle year is one vehicle registered for one year.) These calculations only count the deaths of drivers, not passengers, since every Sports Utility that crashes has a driver, but not every vehicle has passengers.
Vehicle | Overall death rate (with confidence limits) | Multi-vehicle crash death rate | Single-vehicle crash death rate | Rollover death rate | Model year span |
Honda Pilot 4WD | 11 (0-27) | 11 | 0 | 0 | 2016-17 |
Kia Sorento 4WD | 12 (0-25) | 4 | 8 | 8 | 2016-17 |
Ford Explorer 4WD | 13 (2-24) | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2016-17 |
Hyundai Santa Fe 4WD | 13 (0-31) | 0 | 13 | 7 | 2014-17 |
Toyota 4Runner 4WD | 13 (1-25) | 4 | 11 | 7 | 2014-17 |
Toyota Highlander 4WD | 13 (0-30) | 0 | 13 | 0 | 2017 |
Hyundai Santa Fe 2WD | 16 (0-47) | 0 | 16 | 0 | 2014-17 |
Jeep Grand Cherokee 4WD | 16 (10-23) | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2014-17 |
Jeep Grand Cherokee 2WD | 17 (3-31) | 11 | 5 | 0 | 2014-17 |
Honda Pilot 2WD | 17 (0-43) | 5 | 15 | 14 | 2016-17 |
GMC Terrain 4WD | 18 (6-31) | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2014-17 |
Nissan Murano 4WD | 19 (0-42) | 19 | 0 | 0 | 2015-17 |
Nissan Murano 2WD | 19 (0-43) | 19 | 0 | 0 | 2015-17 |
Jeep Cherokee 4WD | 20 (10-30) | 12 | 7 | 2 | 2014-17 |
Nissan Pathfinder 4WD | 20 (3-37) | 7 | 14 | 12 | 2014-17 |
Ford Edge 4WD | 20 (6-33) | 10 | 11 | 5 | 2015-17 |
Ford Edge 2WD | 21 (2-41) | 11 | 12 | 0 | 2015-17 |
Dodge Journey 4WD | 23 (2-44) | 20 | 3 | 0 | 2014-17 |
Nissan Pathfinder 2WD | 25 (5-45) | 20 | 4 | 2 | 2014-17 |
Jeep Cherokee 2WD | 26 (12-41) | 19 | 8 | 1 | 2014-17 |
Chevrolet Equinox 4WD | 29 (15-43) | 20 | 9 | 2 | 2014-17 |
Jeep Wrangler 4-door 4WD | 31 (21-41) | 15 | 17 | 10 | 2014-17 |
Kia Sorento 2WD | 32 (5-58) | 12 | 22 | 0 | 2016-17 |
Ford Explorer 2WD | 33 (8-58) | 21 | 11 | 6 | 2016-17 |
GMC Terrain 2WD | 33 (16-51) | 22 | 10 | 1 | 2014-17 |
Toyota 4Runner 2WD | 34 (0-67) | 23 | 10 | 0 | 2014-17 |
Ford Flex 2WD | 38 (0-75) | 38 | 0 | 0 | 2014-17 |
Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 4WD | 39 (8-69) | 9 | 35 | 15 | 2014-17 |
Dodge Journey 2WD | 45 (25-65) | 26 | 19 | 12 | 2014-17 |
Chevrolet Equinox 2WD | 45 (33-57) | 32 | 12 | 6 | 2014-17 |
Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 2WD | 51 (24-78) | 26 | 26 | 15 | 2014-17 |
All 2017 vehicles | 36 (34-37) | 22 | 13 | 5 | 2014-17 |