U.S. Highway Fatality Rate Plunges

The likelihood of dying in a crash in a late-model passenger vehicle is two-thirds the rate three years ago, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

The institute's assessment is based on an analysis of crash data through the 2011 model year, the most recent available. Death rates are expresses per million registered vehicle-years.

IIHS notes that eight years ago no models had drive death rates of zero. Now there are nine. They include two sedans (Audi A4 and Subaru Legacy), one minivan (Honda Odyssey) and six all-wheel-drive SUVs (Kia Sorrento, Lexus RX 350, Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, Toyota Highland hybrid, Toyota Sequoia and Volvo XC90).

Not surprisingly, the analysis finds death rates generally go down as vehicle size and weight goes up. The three models with the highest fatality rates all are small sedans: Kia Rio (149 ), Nissan Versa (130) and Hyundai Accent (120).

IIHS says improvement in vehicle design were the biggest source of improvement between 1993 and 2006. Since then, it says, the economic recession has been the biggest factor in lower fatality rates.