The sport utility vehicle (SUV) has the highest rate of
death in rollover accidents. According to government tests,
SUV rollovers are almost three times more likely to occur
than in the average passenger car, and the most stable SUV
is still more unstable than the most unstable car. In 2002,
nearly 11,000 people died in rollover accidents, 61 percent
of which occurred in SUVs. With the number of people killed
in SUV rollovers increasing by 14 percent per year,
consumers should be aware of the risks SUVs pose to their
families. Even more alarming than the rising rollover
statistics is the withholding of rollover information by
the government and auto manufacturers.
Sobering Statistics
Though the number of SUV rollover fatalities continues to
escalate, but SUVs are not being manufactured to better
resist rollover crashes. Not a single SUV earned the
federal agency's highest safety rating, according to an
NHTSA report in 2003. However, SUV consumption has
increased: SUV popularity created a large increase in sales
in the 1990s, and because of high consumer demand for these
cars, car makers continue to manufacture SUVs. Because the
vehicle has changed from simply being an off-road vehicle
to a replacement for the family station wagon,
manufacturers removed the roll bar that protects drivers
and passengers in a rollover situation from SUVs. Many SUV
rollover accidents occur because of the unusual propensity
the large car has to roll over when steered hard in
foreseeable accident avoidance maneuvers. Also, the size
and height of an SUV may increase the danger of rollovers.
SUV defects, like weak roofs and safety restraint system
failures, are some of the heightened risks involved in an
SUV rollover situation. Roof Crush Injury
Roof crush injury is most often the result of rollover
automobile accidents. Roof crush injuries kill 10,000
people every year. Vehicle design is supposed to depend on
a structural support system that creates a "survival space"
that protects car occupants in a crash from injury due to
roof crush. When a vehicle does not have the proper roof
pillar strength, it will cause the roof to cave into the
passenger compartment during an accident. A weak roof makes
a vehicle defective, and roof crushes can cause serious and
fatal injuries, including disabling brain and spinal
injuries.
Safe Roof Designs
Safe roof structure designs have been documented from as
early as the 1930s. Vehicles with the safety features
mentioned above would reduce the number of roof crush
accidents. Despite the availability of safer designs and
structures, manufacturers claim it is the force of the
impact that leads to injuries and death, notwithstanding
the fact that the relationship between rollover crashes and
injuries from roof crush was observed and noted as early as
1932. Safe roofs are equipped with strong roof pillars and
full-length closed sections, windshield headers and side
sections, internal baffle plates, strong tubular
cross-members, and reinforcing gussets at the connections.
Some use rigid foam within the tubular cross-members to
help strengthen the structure. These different safety
precautions can significantly minimize the fatal results of
roof crush.
Roof Crush and Rollover
Roof crush injury risks are higher in vehicles with a
greater propensity to roll over. Because they are taller
and narrower, SUVs, or sports utility vehicles, are three
times more likely to roll over in an accident than are
other passenger cars. In 1973, the government passed
Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 216, creating a
standard roof strength test to measure the integrity of
roof structure in motor vehicles. This test was to apply to
motor vehicles weighing six thousand pounds or less. Many
SUVs weigh more than this, and are therefore exempt from
compulsory safety standards that may be crucial to
preventing roof crush injury. In light of SUV roof crush
injury risks, consumer advocacy groups have urged the
federal government to modify standards so that they include
any vehicle weighing ten thousand pounds or less.
Roof pillars appear strong to the average consumer, but
most of them consist of just sheet metal that is hollow on
the inside at the cross sections. When an accident occurs
involving roof structures with a filled inner space, the
outcome has been shown to be safer due to a lesser amount
of roof crush. Pillars filled with high-density foam can
reduce the severity of a roof crush significantly, saving
lives and reducing serious injuries. Overall, federal
safety standards fail to provide roof strength requirements
that adequately protect people from suffering roof crush
injury in a rollover automobile accident. Despite federal
standards, many vehicle roofs will easily crush a foot or
more during a rollover accident. More stringent testing
standards and minimum industry safety standards must be
employed if the government hopes to adequately protect
people from sustaining serious roof crush injury in
automobile accidents.
If You've Been Injured in an SUV Accident
Though rollover accidents are regarded as highly survivable
events, the integrity of a vehicle's roof structure during
impact is crucial. Windshield reinforcement is a critical
component of vehicle design: when a windshield is destroyed
in the course of an accident, the strength of the roof is
instantly reduced by 33 percent. As a result, roof crush
injuries are often extremely serious. Common roof crush
injuries include neck fractures and other spinal injuries.
Sometimes a brain injury may result from the roof crushing
in on the vehicle occupant. These head and neck injuries
can also cause paraplegia, quadriplegia, or other
life-altering conditions.
If you have suffered injury due to a roof crush car crash,
you may be eligible for monetary compensation due to faulty
automobile design. Contact an experienced crashworthiness
attorney as soon as possible. Your crashworthiness lawyer
will help you assess your claim, file a law suit, and get
the compensation you deserve.
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