I used to have a debate with my dad: convertible or SUV? Not which one do you like better, because we both would have come out on the side of the convertible. He had a 1971 Buick Skylark Convertible that was blue and beautiful. We drove that car from Boston to San Diego when I was 16 with my brother and I have the best memories from that trip.
Sorry, that was a bit far afield. Anyway, the debate was which one was safer and which would you rather be in if you were involved in an accident. I voted for the SUV because it was bigger. He voted for the convertible because it was lower to the ground and less likely to roll over.
Well, a new study came out as reported by the Washington Post (which is fast becoming a favorite of mine). The study revealed that SUVs may not be as safe as people think because they can be more likely to roll over. The injury rate for children in cars and SUVs is about 1.7 percent. The authors of the study do cite the gains made in SUVs not rolling over as much and they think the auto industry can make SUVs even less likely to roll over, thus making them safer.
Moral of the story: before you buy any car, check the safety ratings.