The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) crunched the numbers. It turns out bigger, heavier vehicles don't always keep you safer in a crash. They can, however, make you more deadly to other drivers on the road. It all depends on whether a vehicle is heavier or lighter than the average car.
In the IIHS study, researchers averaged the weight of their sample 2017-2022 vehicles, which came out to 4,000 pounds. For every additional 500 pounds of curb weight above that, crashes between an SUV or truck and a car resulted in one fewer death per million registered vehicle years in heavier models—or, hardly any change. However, the extra weight accounted for up to seven additional deaths in cars.
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