SUV Rollover Accidents. Compared to standard
passenger automobiles, sport utility vehicles present a high risk
of rollover accidents. The increase in SUV sales and their high
popularity has not come without a price. Unaware of the dangers, US
motorists regularly travel on highways in SUVs at speeds normal for
a passenger car. Unfortunately the SUV was originally designed as
an off-road vehicle and not for high speed highway travel, as a
result thousands of people are killed or seriously injured in sport
utility vehicles each year. These vehicles, designed to avoid rocks
and manage rough terrain feature a high center of gravity and a
narrow wheelbase, which at highway speeds spell disaster. The
higher center of gravity makes them top heavy and taking corrective
action or sudden movement causes a rollover position. Indeed,
rollovers accidents are responsible for about 51% of all deaths in
standard sport utility vehicles, about 36% of deaths trucks, and
19% of deaths in standard cars. Simple maneuvers such as changing
lanes or passing at high speed can result in a loss of control,
flipping the vehicle which is why most rollover accidents often
involve only one vehicle. The high numbers killed are largely a
result of the occupants being ejected, others are crushed. Tire
blowouts are catastrophic as evidenced by the widely publicized
firestone recall.
Many accidents involve driver error, and unfamiliarity with SUV
performance and capabilities. America's highways are filled with
Sport utility vehicles traveling in the high speed lane, the
drivers unaware that any speed over 65mph presents dramatically
greater risks of loss of control and rollovers.
However consumer groups and lawyers are increasingly placing fault
at Ford Motors. It is difficulty to ignore the mounting death toll
from the Ford Explorer and other SUVs. The Ford Explorer has a
higher rate of rollover accidents than other sport utility vehicle.
The Explorer is 13 percent more likely to roll than other compact
SUVs and 53 percent more likely than other SUVs to roll over when
there is another equipment failure such as faulty brakes or a tire
blowouts.
Many of these vehicles lack roll protection adding the fatalities.
Manufacturers adapting SUVs to family car driving did not include
roll bars. However, since the body of an SUV is the same as it
would be if used for off-roading, the lack of roll bars along with
the high clearance and high center of gravity make rollover
accidents more deadly.
Lawyers and consumer groups argue that the industry is being
irresponsible by advertising and promoting SUVs as safe, family
cars. Sales of these vehicles are soaring but with many people who
do not intend to drive off-road.
SUV rollover accidents seriously injury or kill about 10,000 people
in the United States in each year, more than side and rear crashes
combined.