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:

Audi A6 4-door 4WD

Mercedes E-Class 4-door 4WD

Toyota Sienna

Ford Edge

Nissan Armada

Land Rover Range Rover Sport

Land Rover LR3

Honda CR-V

Jeep Grand Cherokee

Acura MDX

Mercedes E-Class 4-door

Lexus RX 400h

Lexus GX 470

Mercedes M-Class

Saab 9-3 4-door

15 SUVs with Highest Rates of Driver Death:

Nissan 350Z 2-door

Nissan Titan crew cab

Chevrolet Aveo

Chevrolet Cobalt

Nissan Titan extended cab

Kia Spectra

Chevrolet Malibu Classic

Hyundai Tiburon

Nissan Versa

Chevrolet Colorado extended cab

Nissan Titan crew cab

Kia Rio

Kia Spectra

Mazda Miata MX-5

Subaru Legacy