Good News For Green Drivers; Lower Injury Odds

The odds of being injured in a crash are 25 percent lower for hybrid drivers than people driving nonhybrid vehicles, according to a new report by the Highway Loss Data Institute, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

"Weight is a big factor," said Matt Moore, HLDI vice president. "Hybrids on average are 10 percent heavier than their standard counterparts. This extra mass gives them an advantage in crashes that their conventional twins don't have." He notes that other factors, such as how, when, and by whom hybrids are driven, also may contribute. Researchers included controls to reduce the impact these differences may have had on the results.

It used to be that car buyers had to forego safety if they opted for fuel efficiency. Not so anymore. Consumers have more options than ever before when choosing a safe and fuel efficient vehicle.

"Saving at the pump no longer means you have to skimp on crash protection," Moore said.
In the study, HLDI estimated the odds that a crash would result in injuries if people were riding in a hybrid versus the conventional version of the same vehicle. The analysis included more than 25 hybrid-conventional vehicle pairs, all 2003-11 models, with at least one collision claim and at least one related injury claim filed under personal injury protection or medical payment coverage in 2002-10.

Even with advances in occupant protection, larger vehicles still are safer choices than smaller ones. Although hybrids share the same footprint and structure as their conventional counterparts, they outweigh them because of the added heft of battery packs and other components used in dual-power systems, according to HLDI. At about 3,600 pounds, a hybrid Honda Accord midsize sedan, for example, can weigh as much as 480 pounds more than a conventional Accord. The Toyota Prius and Honda Insight were excluded from the study because they are only sold as hybrids.