Caravan Insurance

New van models have scored impressively on US government tests studying the likelihood of vehicles to tip over in the event of an accident.

Of the six vans tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), five scored no lower than three out of five overall, of which two scored an impressive four, while only one tipped over when tested.

There was an overall reduction in the chance of vehicles tipping over, which the NHTSA put down to the widespread implementation of electronic stability control (ESC) - a feature that was standard in three of the vans tested and optional with two more.

Acting NHTSA administrator Jacqueline Glassman commented: "We have worked hard to encourage automakers to install the kind of safety technology needed to make cars safer, prevent crashes and save lives."

The best performing van of all the models tested was the KIA Sedona, which was found to have a probability of just 13 per cent to roll over in an accident and was accordingly given a four star rating and also came with ESC as standard.

The low possibility of a van tipping over is extremely important - another US official report claims that although rollovers account for just three per cent of all accidents, they cause a third of all crash fatalities and killed more than 10,000 people in the US in 2004.