15 Most Dangerous and Safest SUVs

June 9, 2011— -- The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that SUVs are now statistically safer than they were in the past and released their list of the safest – and most dangerous – SUVs on the market today.

The Institute's research demonstrates that driver death rates have dropped due largely to the widespread availability of electronic stability control systems (ESC), which reduce vehicle rollover rates.

"The rollover risk in SUVs used to outweigh their size/weight advantage, but that's no longer the case, thanks to ESC," Anne McCartt, the Institute's senior vice president for research, said in a statement released today.

The overall driver death rate for 2005-08 models during 2006-09 was 48 per million registered vehicle years.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety is a nonprofit organization that strives to reduce deaths, injuries and property damage due to crashes, according to their website. They take human factors, vehicle factors and environmental factors into account as they study ways to make our nation's roads safer.

Check the lists of 15 safest, and most dangerous, SUVs below to see where your car falls:

15 Safest SUVs:

15 SUVs with Highest Rates of Driver Death: