Attorney General Kelly Ayotte announced today the kickoff of the ESUVEE Safety Campaign, a $27 million, yearlong national education program consisting of events and initiatives designed to reduce SUV rollovers, particularly among younger male drivers who have the highest incidence of such accidents.

The concept of a safety campaign was conceived in December of 2002, when the 50 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia reached a settlement with the Ford Motor Company. The agreement settled state lawsuits alleging that Ford’s marketing practices misled consumers on how to drive, load and maintain Ford Explorers. As part of the settlement, Ford agreed to fund a $27 million consumer education campaign on SUV safety.

The SUV Safety Campaign will use a mascot, ESUVEE, to engage the target audience of younger drivers. The 16-foot long, 11-foot wide and 10-foot tall ESUVEE will serve as the Campaign’s focal point, appearing at events nationwide throughout this year. ESUVEE is prominently featured on the Campaign’s web site, www.ESUVEE.com, a source of tips and information about safe operation and maintenance of SUVs. Throughout the year, the site will also provide information on upcoming events where ESUVEE will appear, such as SUV Safety Days in individual states. ESUVEE will also anchor a hard-hitting public relations campaign promoting SUV safety, including cinema, billboards, print, online and broadcast advertisements.

“SUVs can give you a sense of invincibility, but if you lose control they become very dangerous due to their weight and high center of gravity,” said David Champion, senior director, Auto Test Department, Consumer Reports. “To reduce SUV rollover risk, choose one that has not tipped in NHTSA’s tests, has performed well in Consumer Reports tests, and is equipped with electronic stability control.”

The Campaign aims to inform the public about the following critical safety elements that can help save lives:

Handling: SUVs have a higher center of gravity than passenger cars, which contributes to the higher risk of rollover. The chances of an SUV rollover are further increased by speeding, abrupt maneuvers, inattentiveness, tailgating, recklessness, aggressiveness or impaired driving.

Loading: According to the new consumer survey, nearly 50 percent of Americans do not know that overloading an SUV increases the risk of rollovers. The number of occupants, as well as the weight and distribution of cargo, raises an SUV’s center of gravity, increasing the risk of rollover.

Tires: Tire size, pressure and maintenance are keys to SUV safety. Drivers should monitor each of these, and take them into account when loading an SUV.

Seat belts: Perhaps the most preventable cause of death in an SUV rollover is ejection from the vehicle. Eighty percent of those killed in SUV rollovers are unbelted.

Driving a sport utility vehicle as if it were an ordinary passenger car can be fatal. In 2000, rollover crashes killed 9,873 occupants of passenger cars and light trucks, almost one-third of the total deaths of occupants of these types of vehicles. Despite these disturbing figures, more than four in 10 Americans think they are safer in an SUV than in a regular car, according to a new consumer survey.

Attorney General Ayotte states “It is important for the public to be aware of the risks associated with driving an SUV and take appropriate precautions. Unfortunately, thousands of people are killed every year in rollover crashes.”

The Consumer Protection Bureau of the Attorney General’s Office works to protect the consumers of New Hampshire from unfair or deceptive business practices. If you have a consumer complaint, please call the Bureau at 271-3641.