I am buying a third car for our family, as our 16 year old son will
soon be licensed.  Our budget is $12,000.  He wants a used
Explorer-type SUV.  I am concerned about safety with a teen driver. 
Any references to good information sources about any SUV-type models
from past years that are safe, in that price range?  No personal
opinions, please, my friends have given me a million opinions already!
 I need good reference URLS and sources.

For the most part, a teenager will be much safer with a recent
mid-size to larger car. Death rates for smaller SUVs have much higher
than average death rates. Chevy Blazer being the highest of all
vehicles studied.

Here are various links regarding auto and SUV safety:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/iihs_safest.html

http://www.janegalt.net/blog/archives/005188.html

http://www.suvsafety.info/

http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_01_12_a_suv.html

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

http://www.iihs.org/

European New Car Assessment Programme
http://www.euroncap.com/index.php

Buy a late 80's or early 90's Volvo sedan, like a 740 . They are so
sedate looking (and driving) that your teen will be too mortified to
hotdog it.

Since you said you were not interested in personal opinions, I won't
tell you about all the teenagers who kill themselves or others by the
unexperienced driving heavy and tipover prone SUVs.

The Explorer is classified as a mid-sized SUV, I believe. In that
case, maybe this page reviewing mid-sized SUVs may help:

http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcontainers/do/ViewTypeModels/category=type/attribute=suv/category2=subtype/attribute2=midsize

Hi songster66-ga,

I'm not sure the "good information" you want about safe SUVs is going
to be easy to come by. According to the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety, unfortunately the Ford Explorer, classed as a mid-size
SUV has one of the highest rates of driver death among vehicles
included in a recent study. Furthermore, the report states that,
"Large cars and minivans dominate among vehicle models with very low
death rates. The models with the highest rates are mostly small cars
and small and midsize SUVs, many of which also have high rates of
death in single vehicle rollover crashes." I think you might find the
full report very interesting. You can find it here:
http://www.iihs.org/news/2005/iihs_sr_031505.pdf

And the IIHS has a lot of other good safety data and information on
their main site, here: http://www.iihs.org/

Another good place to check for information is the U.S. National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration, here: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/

In addition to fatality/serious injury rates, another thing to watch
out for is the center of gravity. You want to be sure the vehicle has
as low a center of gravity as possible, for stability in handling,
especially in turns.

Just fwiw, the suggestion of a Volvo isn't a bad one. They are
extremely well-engineered cars, heavy, safe, and yet the handling is
very nice and fun. Darn things can turn on a dime. And at least in my
area, it's possible to find some surprisingly good deals on used ones.
I wouldn't balk at buying one with mileage over 100,000 as they can
and do frequently last to well over twice that. The only real drawback
is the high cost of replacement parts once they start needing work.

I've successfully survived two teenaged sons getting their driver's
licenses and first cars. Thankfully, so have they. I'm sure in a few
years you'll be breathing a sigh of relief too, but in the meantime,
good on you for doing your homework! And good luck to you and your
son.  :-)

Best wishes,
Byrd-ga

What is safe?  Do you consider mental health when you conceder safety?
I have (no wait HAD) a 2001 Subaru Outback.  My car was stopped behind
a line of traffic at a red light. I was hit from behind by a 16 year
going 45 to 50 miles an hour.  My car was pushed into the back of a
pickup truck.  My car was sandwiched between the two larger vehicles
but my passenger and I walked away from the incident with whiplash
only.  None of the passenger space of the vehicle were touched by this
accident.  There is no hood or hatch left but that?s a different
discussion --When is a car totaled?

If the car I was driving were something smaller and lower to the
ground like many popular cars out there are I could have been very
badly hurt or killed.  The car next to me before the crash in the
right lane was VW bug.  Do you think the 16 year old and her parents
would still think the SUV was safest for their inexperienced daughter
if I had died?  Guilt and grief can be just as debilitating as loosing
the ability to walk.

Go with a car that is safe for your son and the others on the road
with him.  I am begging you.  Depending on where you live a Subaru
Outback may be a great option for you with the AWD as well.  I know it
helped me avoid snow banks in VT and NY and it was good for rain
storms down here in GA.  It?s a little higher off the ground than a
Taurus or a Camery so it can stop and SUV coming at it instead of the
SUV going over it.