The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released results of its 2004 rollover testing. No surprises here, since cars always perform better than trucks and SUVs in rollover tests. In fact, the lowest ranked car is the Subaru Outback Wagon, with a 15.5% chance of rollover in a single vehicle accident. That's slightly better than the highest ranked truck.

No matter what type of vehicle you drive, you can take steps to minimize the risk of rollover--or injury if one occurs.

Wearing your seat belt is the most important thing you can do to lower your risk of death in a rollover crash. Occupants wearing seat belts are 75% less likely to be killed than unbelted riders.

And then there's the way you drive. Use these tips to minimize the risk of rollover:

• Avoid panic steering. Try not to jerk the steering wheel to overcorrect during an emergency or when a wheel goes off the road.
• Watch the road in rural areas. Most rollovers occur in rural areas when the vehicle goes off the road into a ditch or hits soft soil off the shoulder.
• Maintain proper tire pressure for your vehicle and change your tires when they're worn.
• Load the vehicle properly. Refer to your owner's manual for load distribution tips. Be extremely careful when using a roof rack, since a load on top of the vehicle shifts its center of gravity and could make it more likely to roll.

The top ranked truck for 2004 is the Chevrolet Silverado 4x2 Extended Cab. The Chrysler Pacifica 4x4 earned top honors in the SUV category.

For all test results, see the Rollover Test Result Charts