Four-wheel-drive vehicles more likely to roll, study says

Four-wheel-drive vehicles designed for on- and off-the-road travel are more likely to roll over than cars, says an insurance industry study, and their passengers run a greater risk of being tossed out in a crash.

The study says such utility vehicles are more often involved in fatal crashes than are passenger cars. This finding may be due in large part to the frequent use of such vehicles in rural areas where road conditions are poorer and, to a disproportionate degree, by young male drivers who as a class are poorer drivers.