SUV Rollover Accidents
SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles) account for many of the most dangerous vehicles on our streets today. Originally marketed for off road use, certain SUVs were developed with high suspensions and narrow wheelbases. Unfortunately, most SUVs are in use on highways - often traveling at high speeds. Because many SUVs have high centers of gravity (due to high suspensions) combined with top heavy designs and narrow wheelbases, they are particularly susceptible to rollovers when a driver is forced to make a foreseeable evasive maneuver at highway speed. However, the design flaws in certain SUVs don't stop there.
Despite the high likelihood of a rollover accident, many SUV manufacturers failed to design adequate safety measures into the vehicles. Among other things, the lack of a roll bar and defective airbags in many models increase the likelihood of death or serious injury during a rollover accident. In many rollover accidents, passengers are thrown from the vehicle due to defective seatbelts and roofs cave in due to a lack of crashworthiness, further increasing the likelihood of catastrophic injury and death.
SUV manufacturers are aware of these design flaws, but choose not to correct them - choosing profits over safety. Unfortunately, many innocent victims have paid the price for this greed with serious injuries and their lives. In fact, more than 10,000 people are killed in rollover accidents each year.
One of GM's most popular full-size SUVs, the Chevrolet Suburban debuted back in 1936. The Suburban is essentially a longer version of the Tahoe, with a 14-inch longer wheelbase and an overall length that, at 222.4 inches, stretches some 20 inches longer than a Tahoe.
The 2007 Chevy Suburban earned a 3-star rollover rating and a 23% chance of rollover during testing by the NHTSA.
The Chevy Suburban, much like other SUVS, is built with a narrow wheelbase and high center of gravity. These are both contributing factors in a rollover accident. In circumstances where an SUV must make evasive maneuvers, their design makes them harder to control and often results in one car rollover accidents.
GMC SUV Number of Rollover Deaths: October 3, 2000The Insurance Institute has compiled the number of GMC rollover deaths for Highway Safety using federal data for 1995 to 1997 in deaths per million vehicles registered.
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USA Today - Predicted rollover probabilities, Model year 2000 vehicles: 14%–17.9% Chevrolet Suburban |
The leading cause of death in SUV accidents is rollovers. Because of the speed involved in the accidents, untested environments, such as uneven or slick surfaces and the actual design of the vehicles themselves, crash and rollover tests do not meet real world circumstances. The current standards are simply not enough to replicate what happens on the highways that we drive on. Faulty design is a leading contributor to rollover accidents, some even single car accidents. Here's a list of some safety issues that are common with SUVs, trucks and vans: |
The leading cause of death in van accidents is rollovers. Because of the speed involved in the accidents, untested environments, such as uneven or slick surfaces and the actual design of the vehicles themselves, crash and rollover tests do not meet real world circumstances. The current standards are simply not enough to replicate what happens on the highways that we drive on. Faulty design is a leading contributor to rollover accidents, some even single car accidents. Here's a list of some safety issues that are common with SUVs, trucks and vans:
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Overview of SUV Rollovers
Compared to regular sedan passenger cars, SUVs (sport utility vehicles) are more likely to roll over during an accident. SUVs are typically taller than regular passenger cars, but do not have a much wider wheelbase. This gives SUVs a higher center of gravity. Thus, a sudden maneuver that would not result in a roll over for a standard vehicle can result in a fatal roll over accident for the sports utility vehicle. Occupants of such vehicles can be tossed out of the SUV and be severely injured or even killed. Another result of SUV rollover is roof crush. During a rollover accident, the absence of a strong roof or roll bar can cause intrusion of the occupant's survival space due to the collapse of the vehicles roof. The end result is often serious head or neck injuries sustained by the vehicles occupants. Although many manufacturers acknowledge that rollovers do occur few SUVs have been equipped with life saving designs or construction to provide sufficient strength to prevent vehicle roof crush. A high center of gravity and the lack of proper roof strengthening leads to fatal injuries for the drivers and passengers of sport utility vehicles.
A Few Facts About SUV Rollovers and Safety
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There were an estimated 70,000 SUV rollovers in 2002, in which it's estimated 2000 people died.
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In the 10-year period during which Ford-Firestone related rollovers caused some 300 deaths, more than 12,000 people -- 40 times as many -- died in SUV rollover crashes unrelated to tire failure.
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A Ford Explorer is 16 times as likely as the typical family car to kill occupants of another vehicle in a crash.
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1 out of 4 new vehicles sold in the U.S. is an SUV, making it the most popular type of vehicle in America. The Ford Explorer is the most popular SUV in the world
Although rollover crashes constitute only 3 percent of vehicle crashes, these crashes are responsible for one-third of all crash fatalities -- 10,000 deaths annually. Yet rollovers are highly survivable crashes, because the forces applied to occupants during the collision are far lower than those experienced in other types of crashes. This survivability suggests that rollovers are dangerous due to poor vehicle design. In addition, safety belts and seat structures are not made to keep occupants in place during a crash, and vehicle roofs are so flimsy that when they absorb the full weight of the car they crush into occupants' heads and spines, inflicting very serious injuries.