WASHINGTON, D.C. – Compact cars have the highest fatality rate, according to a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that examined fatality data from 1997 to 2004 to compare death rates among different types of vehicles. Compacts had a fatality rate of 17.76 per 100,000 vehicles in 2004, followed by compact pickup trucks with 16.87 and subcompact vehicles with 16.85, as published by the Associated Press. Large vans had the lowest rate, 9.34, while pickup trucks and SUVs had rates of about 15 deaths. In crashes involving rollovers, mid-size SUVs had a fatality rate of nearly 10 deaths per 100,000 registered vehicles in 2004, giving it the highest rate among automobiles in rollovers. Full-size passenger cars had the lowest rate in rollovers. Overall, the data found fatality rates mostly declining since the late-1990s in every vehicle classification. Death rates in all passenger cars dropped from 16.9 per 100,000 vehicles in 1997 to 14.2 in 2004, according to the report.