See this quote from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

"...growing sales of SUVs and pickups have exacerbated height mismatches among passenger vehicles, thereby increasing the risks to occupants of many vehicles struck in the side. In crashes between cars and other passenger vehicles during 2000-01, almost 60 percent of the driver deaths in the cars struck on the driver side were hit by SUVs or pickups — up from about 30 percent during 1980-81."

http://www.iihs.org/ratings/side_test_info.html

This is why I cringe when I hear an SUV driver say they bought their SUV for safety reasons. Maybe it's safe, but at who's expense??