When SUVs first entered the scene, their tendency to roll over during accidents created a stigma; no one wants to drive a car that tends to fatally injure the occupants in a crash. In the years since, technology has improved SUVs to the point of involving fewer driver fatalities than cars of similar weight. In fact, from 2005 to 2008, there were 28 driver deaths per million recorded sports utility vehicles in the US versus 56 driver deaths per million cars. The vans had 52 driver deaths per million during the same time period. Looking at these numbers, you could say that SUVs are even safer than cars. So how did such a change occur?

First, let’s look at the physics. SUVs tend to weigh more and ride taller than cars. This is both good and bad; good because it offers more protection in a crash and bad because the higher center of gravity makes the vehicle roll on the roof more easily. These rollover accidents are a major source of serious injury to passengers.

To combat this problem, automakers developed new technologies and implemented new designs to decrease the chances of a rollover, as well as to reduce injuries should a rollover occur anyway.

Electronic stability system. This prevents conditions that could cause a rollover. If you lose control, the system will limit acceleration and apply antilock brakes to keep the vehicle on course. It cannot prevent a rollover completely, but it can prevent the circumstances that usually lead to a rollover. This feature has been so effective that most automakers have made it standard on SUVs, and the NHTSA now requires it for 2012. Some advanced models can even detect a rollover and take action to stop the movement.

Improved body design. Automakers have lowered the overall center of gravity, making SUVs more naturally stable. How did they do this? By building the SUV on the frame of a car, creating the now popular crossover.

Side curtain airbags. In a rollover or side impact accident, these are deployed from the roof to cover the side windows. They stay inflated long enough for multiple rolls to protect occupants and keep them in the car. Flying out of the car is one of the leading causes of death in rollover accidents, which is why this feature has greatly reduced the fatality rate from rollover accidents.

All of these advancements are wonderful for keeping passengers safe, but what happens to the occupants of the other car in an accident? In recent years, automakers have lowered the frames of SUVs so that in the event of an accident, the powerful SUV frame will engage in the car’s crumple zones rather than in the cabin. This change alone has reduced fatalities among drivers of the other car by 21 percent in frontal impacts and by nearly 50 percent in side-impact crashes.

Also, SUVs often have large blind spots. To overcome this problem, many SUVs now offer a sonar-based “parking assist” system to indicate proximity to an obstacle or person. However, a reversing camera automatically provides a wide-angle view behind the vehicle when the transmission is shifted into Reverse.

With the development of these new technologies and vehicle redesign, today’s SUVs are some of the safest cars on the road. They have come a long way from the clumsy and heavy tanks that they used to be.